Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 3:33 AM ET

BBW max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.78
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$25+5.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.95±12.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.72581 puts / 338 calls
Call wall$27.5largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3057.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$11Kper 1% move

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$25+5.1%24d
Fri, Dec 18$30+26.2%52d
Fri, Mar 19$25+5.1%143d
Thu, Jun 17$25+5.1%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152025303540$1M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot251520253035259259
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BBW 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

spot2515202530352626
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152025303540111%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1520253035+$14K−$14K
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
0.98-0.00150.00760.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.0117.50.02110.01-0.01-0.05
0.87-0.02200.05190.01-0.02-0.13
0.68-0.0322.50.09800.02-0.03-0.32
0.41-0.03250.11220.02-0.03-0.60
0.20-0.0227.50.07760.02-0.02-0.81
0.09-0.01300.04270.01-0.01-0.93
0.04-0.0132.50.02270.01-0.01-0.98
0.02-0.00350.01250.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.00400.00440.00-0.01-1.00

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

spot1522.53037.545552K0
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

spot12.52027.53542.5502K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 2K 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: BBW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk