Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 4:35 AM ET

BOT max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.5
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$30+13.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.7±32.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.001K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3090.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 18$25-5.7%6d
Fri, Oct 16$30+13.2%34d
Fri, Nov 20$30+13.2%69d
Fri, Feb 19$25-5.7%160d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30152433425160$3M$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot30152025354555438438
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BOT 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

spot301520253545553131
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152433425160136%89%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 101.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 17.5152025354555+$3K$3K
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
0.94-0.01150.01380.01-0.01-0.07
0.88-0.0217.50.01920.02-0.02-0.13
0.80-0.03200.02430.03-0.02-0.20
0.71-0.0322.50.02840.04-0.03-0.28
0.63-0.03250.03100.04-0.03-0.35
0.47-0.04300.03210.05-0.03-0.51
0.35-0.03350.02950.04-0.03-0.63
0.25-0.03400.02520.04-0.03-0.72
0.18-0.02450.02070.03-0.02-0.79
0.13-0.02500.01660.03-0.02-0.84
0.10-0.01550.01320.02-0.02-0.88
0.07-0.01600.01040.02-0.01-0.90

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

spot1520253545556460
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

spot1520253545551K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 4K 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: BOT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk