Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 1:38 AM ET

BKD max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.07
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$11+9.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.67±16.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0960 puts / 695 calls
Call wall$11largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3041.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $11

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+9.2%30d
Fri, Dec 18$11+9.2%58d
Fri, Jan 15$12+19.2%86d
Fri, Feb 19$13+29.1%121d
Fri, Apr 16$12+19.2%177d
Thu, Jun 17$13+29.1%239d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot118910111213$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

spot118910111213684684
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BKD 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

spot11891011121388
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot8910111213130%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 71.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 118910111213+$17K−$17K
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
0.91-0.0080.08590.01-0.01-0.09
0.81-0.0190.18790.01-0.01-0.20
0.56-0.01100.31810.01-0.01-0.45
0.28-0.01110.25620.01-0.01-0.73
0.14-0.01120.14830.01-0.01-0.87
0.08-0.00130.08700.00-0.00-0.93

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

spot391215223K0
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

spot27121722305K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 5K 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: BKD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk