Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 5:50 PM ET

CAG max pain

Spot (delayed)$13.93
Max pain · Fri, Nov 6$14.5+4.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.63±4.5% by Fri, Nov 6
Put/Call OI1.574K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$14.5largest call OI
Put wall$14.5largest put OI
IV3030.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$113Kper 1% move

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

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$15+7.7%2d
Fri, Nov 6$14.5+4.1%9d
Fri, Nov 13$13-6.7%16d
Fri, Nov 20$14+0.5%23d
Fri, Nov 27$14+0.5%30d
Fri, Dec 4$14.5+4.1%37d
Fri, Dec 18$14+0.5%51d
Fri, Jan 15$15+7.7%79d
Fri, Mar 19$15+7.7%142d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot14.5121517202225$2M$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 — 14.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot14.51213.51516.519.5221K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CAG open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 6.

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 6

spot14.51213.51516.519.522102102
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot12131415161791%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot1213.51516.519.522+$66K−$66K
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 6

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.01120.07520.00-0.01-0.07
0.93-0.0112.50.12800.00-0.01-0.11
0.88-0.01130.23550.00-0.01-0.18
0.76-0.0113.50.45950.01-0.01-0.34
0.48-0.02140.64130.01-0.01-0.62
0.24-0.0114.50.42460.01-0.01-0.81
0.13-0.01150.24140.01-0.01-0.89
0.08-0.0115.50.14710.00-0.01-0.93
0.06-0.01160.09690.00-0.01-0.95
0.04-0.0116.50.06790.00-0.01-0.96
0.03-0.01170.05000.00-0.01-0.97
0.02-0.00190.02000.00-0.00-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot810.512.514.516.53K0
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

spot3101418234024K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 128K call contracts, 64K 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: CAG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk