Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 3:39 AM ET

CFFN max pain

Spot (delayed)$8.49
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$7.5-11.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.13±13.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.8733 puts / 38 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3050.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$205per 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$7.5-11.7%24d
Fri, Feb 19$7.5-11.7%115d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.535791113$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot7.52.557.51012.52525
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CFFN 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

spot7.52.557.51012.54040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 1057.51012.5+$322−$322
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
1.00-0.002.50.00410.00-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.0050.02880.00-0.00-0.04
0.81-0.017.50.21520.01-0.01-0.21
0.23-0.01100.18600.01-0.01-0.80
0.10-0.0112.50.07820.00-0.01-0.91

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

spot7.51012.515260
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

spot2.57.512.517.52626
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41 call contracts, 41 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: CFFN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk