Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 11:34 PM ET

BNL max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.23
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$17.5+1.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.63±9.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0940 puts / 454 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3023.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$8Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$17.5+1.6%29d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5+1.6%57d
Fri, Feb 19$17.5+1.6%120d
Fri, May 21$22.5+30.6%211d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5151719212325$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot17.51517.52022.525197197
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BNL 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

spot17.51517.52022.52577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot15171921232569%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 201517.52022.525+$5K−$5K
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
0.88-0.01150.08890.01-0.01-0.12
0.47-0.0117.50.35020.02-0.01-0.56
0.11-0.01200.09790.01-0.01-0.94
0.05-0.0022.50.04000.01-0.01-0.99
0.03-0.00250.02180.00-0.00-1.00

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

spot12.517.52022.5257220
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

spot2.51017.52540727727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 140 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: BNL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk