Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:57 AM ET

CAKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$107
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$110+2.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.15±11.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.712K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$110largest call OI
Put wall$100largest put OI
IV3052.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$219Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $75

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$110+2.8%26d
Fri, Dec 18$115+7.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$97.5-8.9%82d
Fri, Feb 19$100-6.5%117d
Fri, Apr 16$110+2.8%173d
Fri, May 21$95-11.2%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1107086102118134150$9M$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 — 110 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1107087.597.5115135845845
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CAKE 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

spot1107087.597.51151351K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot7086102118134150103%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 757087.597.5115135+$192K−$192K
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
0.94-0.04850.00690.04-0.04-0.07
0.92-0.0587.50.00870.04-0.05-0.09
0.89-0.06900.01080.06-0.06-0.11
0.86-0.0792.50.01310.07-0.07-0.14
0.83-0.08950.01560.08-0.08-0.18
0.78-0.0997.50.01820.09-0.09-0.22
0.73-0.101000.02050.10-0.10-0.27
0.61-0.111050.02410.11-0.11-0.39
0.49-0.111100.02530.12-0.11-0.51
0.37-0.111150.02400.11-0.11-0.63
0.27-0.091200.02080.10-0.09-0.73
0.19-0.081250.01680.08-0.08-0.81
0.13-0.061300.01300.06-0.06-0.87
0.09-0.051350.00960.05-0.05-0.92
0.06-0.031400.00700.04-0.03-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2547.567.587.51151551K0
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

spot22.542.562.582.51051452K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 10K 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: CAKE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk