Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:16 PM ET

CG max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.75
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$37.5-3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.15±10.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI2.5315K puts / 6K calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3047.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$727Kper 1% move

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$37.5-3.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5+9.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$47.5+22.6%81d
Fri, Mar 19$42.5+9.7%144d
Thu, Jun 17$40+3.2%234d
Fri, Jan 21$42.5+9.7%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot37.5253239465360$15M$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 — 37.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot37.52532.54047.5607K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CG 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

spot37.52532.54047.560130130
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot253239465360112%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2532.54047.560+$578K−$578K
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
0.99-0.00250.00260.00-0.01-0.01
0.98-0.0027.50.00660.00-0.01-0.03
0.96-0.01300.01540.01-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.0232.50.03240.02-0.02-0.12
0.80-0.03350.05780.03-0.03-0.23
0.62-0.0437.50.08090.04-0.04-0.40
0.41-0.04400.08400.04-0.04-0.60
0.23-0.0342.50.06550.03-0.03-0.78
0.12-0.02450.04180.02-0.02-0.89
0.06-0.0147.50.02420.01-0.01-0.94
0.03-0.01500.01360.01-0.01-0.97
0.01-0.00550.00450.00—-0.99
0.00-0.00600.00160.00—-1.00

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

spot17.532.54557.570908K0
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

spot17.53042.55567.58523K23K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 46K call contracts, 61K 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: CG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk