Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:06 AM ET

ASYS max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.44
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$15+20.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.43±19.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.25405 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3080.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$8Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$15+20.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$15+20.6%54d
Fri, Feb 19$17.5+40.7%117d
Fri, May 21$15+20.6%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot153916222935$3M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152.57.512.517.522.530415415
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ASYS open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152.57.512.517.522.5301717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot81319243035240%82%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 87.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 102.57.512.517.522.530+$3K−$3K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.00-0.002.50.00110.00-0.00-0.00
0.99-0.0050.00560.00-0.00-0.01
0.96-0.017.50.02240.00-0.01-0.04
0.85-0.01100.07650.01-0.01-0.16
0.55-0.0212.50.14380.01-0.02-0.46
0.26-0.02150.11000.01-0.02-0.75
0.13-0.0117.50.06440.01-0.01-0.88
0.07-0.01200.03840.01-0.01-0.94
0.05-0.0122.50.02430.00-0.01-0.97
0.03-0.01250.01620.00-0.00-0.99
0.01-0.00300.00820.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.00350.00470.000.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.57.512.517.522.5305550
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot2.57.512.517.522.530599599
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 697 put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: ASYS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk