Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:55 AM ET

BTU max pain

Spot (delayed)$23
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$22-4.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.32±14.4% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI1.17127 puts / 109 calls
Call wall$29largest call OI
Put wall$19largest put OI
IV3060.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $16

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$23+0.0%3d
Fri, Nov 6$24+4.3%10d
Fri, Nov 13$22.5-2.2%17d
Fri, Nov 20$26+13.0%24d
Fri, Nov 27$22-4.3%31d
Fri, Dec 4$24+4.3%38d
Fri, Dec 18$25+8.7%52d
Fri, Jan 15$23+0.0%80d
Fri, Apr 16$20-13.0%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22151821252831$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 — 22 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot2215182125287878
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BTU open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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 27

spot22151821252822
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot15182125283176%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spotflip 161518212529+$2K−$2K
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 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.01150.01540.01-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.01160.02240.01-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.01170.03200.01-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.01180.04470.01-0.01-0.12
0.83-0.02190.05990.02-0.02-0.17
0.76-0.02200.07610.02-0.02-0.24
0.67-0.02210.09010.02-0.02-0.33
0.57-0.02220.09870.03-0.03-0.43
0.39-0.02240.09520.03-0.02-0.62
0.31-0.02250.08600.02-0.02-0.70
0.24-0.02260.07480.02-0.02-0.77
0.19-0.02270.06350.02-0.02-0.82
0.15-0.01280.05300.01-0.01-0.86
0.12-0.01290.04380.01-0.01-0.89
0.07-0.01310.02950.01-0.01-0.94

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

spot2224262830325840
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

spot317.52328.5344420K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 62K call contracts, 58K 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: BTU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk