Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:57 AM ET

CHYM max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.57
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$30+1.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.13±13.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.095K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3060.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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$30+1.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5-23.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$25-15.5%81d
Fri, Mar 19$30+1.5%144d
Fri, May 21$27.5-7.0%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30182431374450$7M$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3017.52532.54047.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CHYM 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

spot3017.52532.54047.54949
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot182431374450116%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 42.517.52532.54047.5+$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
0.99-0.0017.50.00450.00-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.01200.01020.01-0.01-0.03
0.93-0.0122.50.02230.01-0.01-0.07
0.85-0.02250.04330.02-0.02-0.15
0.70-0.0327.50.06720.03-0.03-0.30
0.51-0.04300.07920.03-0.04-0.49
0.33-0.0332.50.07220.03-0.03-0.68
0.19-0.02350.05390.02-0.03-0.82
0.10-0.0237.50.03500.01-0.02-0.91
0.05-0.01400.02080.01-0.01-0.96
0.03-0.0142.50.01170.01-0.00-0.99
0.01-0.00450.00630.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.0047.50.00330.000.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot51525354510K0
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

spot2.512.522.532.542.512K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 61K call contracts, 30K 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: CHYM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk