Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:55 AM ET

CCS max pain

Spot (delayed)$57.92
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$55-5.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.35±12.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0516 puts / 307 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3049.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$45Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $55

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$55-5.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$65+12.2%54d
Fri, Mar 19$60+3.6%145d
Thu, Jun 17$35-39.6%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55505560657075$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot55505560657075200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CCS 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

spot55505560657075200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot50556065707588%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 55505560657075+$36K−$36K
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
0.87-0.03500.02680.03-0.03-0.13
0.68-0.05550.04830.06-0.05-0.32
0.41-0.05600.05340.06-0.05-0.58
0.21-0.04650.03750.05-0.04-0.79
0.10-0.03700.02170.03-0.03-0.90
0.05-0.02750.01210.02-0.02-0.94

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

spot355570851002660
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

spot3045607590105289289
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 867 call contracts, 818 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: CCS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk