Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 23, 2:37 AM ET

CCL max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.38
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$27+20.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.36±15.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.7453K puts / 30K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$27largest put OI
IV3047.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1.3Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $20
Earnings · expectedMon, Sep 28usually after the close

Event risk before this expiration: 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 25$22.5+0.5%2d
Fri, Oct 2$22.5+0.5%9d← 1st expiry after earnings (Mon, Sep 28)
Fri, Oct 9$22.5+0.5%16d
Fri, Oct 16$24+7.2%23d
Fri, Oct 23$23+2.8%30d
Fri, Oct 30$22-1.7%37d
Fri, Nov 20$27+20.6%58d
Fri, Dec 18$27+20.6%86d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot27131926323945$65M$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 — 27 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2712.5192428323617K17K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CCL 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

spot2712.51924283236923923
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot131926323945111%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2012.51924283236+$686K$686K
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
0.98-0.0012.50.00600.00-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.00150.01430.01-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.00160.02090.01-0.00-0.05
0.91-0.0117.50.03680.01-0.01-0.09
0.82-0.01190.05840.02-0.01-0.17
0.75-0.01200.07270.03-0.01-0.25
0.67-0.01210.08460.03-0.01-0.33
0.53-0.0122.50.09460.04-0.01-0.47
0.39-0.01240.09270.03-0.01-0.61
0.31-0.01250.08550.03-0.01-0.70
0.24-0.01260.07530.03-0.01-0.77
0.18-0.01270.06380.02-0.01-0.83
0.14-0.01280.05250.02-0.01-0.88
0.10-0.01290.04240.02-0.01-0.92
0.08-0.01300.03390.01-0.01-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1318.52225.529367K0
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

spot21520.525303997K97K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 438K call contracts, 499K 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: CCL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk