Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:42 AM ET

BGC max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.78
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$11-6.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.55±13.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.59456 puts / 774 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$11largest put OI
IV3038.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$312per 1% move · flip ≈ $9

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$11-6.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$5-57.6%54d
Fri, Feb 19$11-6.6%117d
Fri, May 21$5-57.6%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot11269131620$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 — 11 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1129121520500500
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BGC 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

spot112912152066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot91113161820137%40%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 58.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 929121520+$6K−$6K
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
1.00-0.0020.00140.00-0.00-0.00
0.99-0.0030.00250.00-0.00-0.01
0.99-0.0040.00410.00-0.00-0.01
0.93-0.0190.05670.00-0.01-0.06
0.88-0.01100.11370.01-0.01-0.12
0.74-0.01110.23420.01-0.01-0.26
0.46-0.01120.30810.01-0.01-0.54
0.24-0.01130.20760.01-0.01-0.76
0.14-0.01140.12640.01-0.01-0.86
0.09-0.01150.08080.01-0.01-0.91
0.06-0.00160.05460.00-0.01-0.94
0.04-0.00170.03860.00-0.00-0.96
0.02-0.00200.01640.00-0.00-0.99

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

spot2591215193K0
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

spot261014183K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 990 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: BGC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk