Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 2:22 AM ET

BCC max pain

Spot (delayed)$76.28
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$72.5-5.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.7±10.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.2429 puts / 120 calls
Call wall$82.5largest call OI
Put wall$67.5largest put OI
IV3039.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$22Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $80

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$72.5-5.0%30d
Fri, Dec 18$65-14.8%58d
Fri, Jan 15$77.5+1.6%86d
Fri, Apr 16$90+18.0%177d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot72.5606672788490$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 — 72.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot72.56067.57582.5906262
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BCC 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

spot72.56067.57582.5907070
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot60667278849055%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 806067.57582.590+$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
0.94-0.02600.00910.03-0.02-0.06
0.89-0.03650.01760.04-0.03-0.11
0.84-0.0467.50.02370.06-0.04-0.16
0.69-0.0572.50.03770.08-0.05-0.31
0.59-0.06750.04310.09-0.06-0.41
0.37-0.05800.04340.08-0.05-0.64
0.27-0.0582.50.03820.07-0.05-0.73
0.19-0.04850.03140.06-0.04-0.81
0.10-0.03900.01880.04-0.03-0.91

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

spot47.562.577.590105700
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

spot3547.562.57587.5105115115
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 339 call contracts, 335 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: BCC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk