Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 30, 12:24 AM ET

BX max pain

Spot (delayed)$119.95
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$116-3.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.75±9.0% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI1.17230 puts / 197 calls
Call wall$121largest call OI
Put wall$110largest put OI
IV3035.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $130

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$117-2.5%1d
Fri, Nov 6$116-3.3%8d
Fri, Nov 13$117-2.5%15d
Fri, Nov 20$155+29.2%22d
Fri, Nov 27$115-4.1%29d
Fri, Dec 4$116-3.3%36d
Fri, Dec 18$135+12.5%50d
Fri, Jan 15$130+8.4%78d
Fri, Feb 19$125+4.2%113d
Fri, Mar 19$120+0.0%141d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot11698107117126136145$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 — 116 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot116981041101161211268888
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BX open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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, Dec 4

spot116981041101161211261414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot9810711712613614546%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 13098104110116121126+$25K−$25K
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, Dec 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.72-0.061130.02480.13-0.07-0.29
0.69-0.061140.02560.13-0.07-0.31
0.67-0.071150.02650.14-0.07-0.34
0.64-0.071160.02740.14-0.07-0.36
0.61-0.071170.02810.14-0.07-0.39
0.58-0.071180.02880.15-0.07-0.42
0.55-0.071190.02940.15-0.07-0.45
0.52-0.071200.02970.15-0.07-0.48
0.49-0.071210.03000.15-0.07-0.51
0.46-0.071220.03000.15-0.07-0.54
0.43-0.071230.03000.15-0.07-0.57
0.40-0.071240.02970.15-0.07-0.60
0.38-0.071250.02920.14-0.07-0.63
0.35-0.071260.02860.14-0.06-0.66
0.24-0.051300.02470.12-0.05-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 30 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot901061131201271341K0
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

spot559011613016520040K40K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 179K call contracts, 329K 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: BX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk