Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:01 AM ET

BEKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.08
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$17-0.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.53±8.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.821K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$18largest call OI
Put wall$16largest put OI
IV3041.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $14

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, Oct 30$18+5.4%4d
Fri, Nov 6$9-47.3%11d
Fri, Nov 13$17-0.5%18d
Fri, Nov 20$17-0.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$15-12.2%32d
Fri, Dec 4$19+11.2%39d
Fri, Dec 18$17-0.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$17-0.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$17-0.5%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17141517192022$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 — 17 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1713.51517181921649649
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BEKE 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

spot1713.5151718192133
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot14151719202294%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 1413.51517181921+$34K−$34K
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
0.87-0.0113.50.05220.01-0.01-0.13
0.85-0.01140.06240.01-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.01150.09240.01-0.01-0.20
0.72-0.01160.14240.02-0.01-0.29
0.56-0.01170.20290.02-0.01-0.45
0.45-0.0117.50.20660.02-0.01-0.56
0.37-0.01180.18640.02-0.01-0.64
0.30-0.0118.50.15940.02-0.01-0.71
0.25-0.01190.13510.01-0.01-0.76
0.19-0.01200.09950.01-0.01-0.82
0.15-0.01210.07650.01-0.01-0.86
0.13-0.01220.06110.01-0.01-0.88

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

spot91317192270
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

spot31317.52226.53276K76K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 159K call contracts, 96K 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: BEKE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk