Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 5:26 PM ET

CI max pain

Spot (delayed)$305.01
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$295-3.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$25.4±8.3% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI0.6789 puts / 132 calls
Call wall$325largest call OI
Put wall$240largest put OI
IV3034.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$103Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $300

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, Oct 30$285-6.6%4d
Fri, Nov 6$275-9.8%11d
Fri, Nov 13$280-8.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$280-8.2%25d
Fri, Nov 27$295-3.3%32d
Fri, Dec 4$315+3.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$280-8.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$180-41.0%81d
Fri, Mar 19$270-11.5%144d
Fri, Apr 16$270-11.5%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot295220245270295320345$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 — 295 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot2952202552803003203405050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CI open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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 27

spot29522025528030032034099
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot22024527029532034554%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spotflip 300220255280300320340+$24K−$24K
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 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.102700.00580.18-0.10-0.12
0.85-0.122750.00690.21-0.12-0.15
0.81-0.132800.00820.24-0.14-0.19
0.77-0.152850.00940.28-0.15-0.23
0.72-0.172900.01060.31-0.17-0.28
0.66-0.182950.01160.33-0.18-0.34
0.60-0.193000.01230.35-0.19-0.40
0.54-0.193050.01270.36-0.20-0.47
0.48-0.193100.01290.36-0.20-0.53
0.41-0.193150.01260.35-0.19-0.60
0.35-0.183200.01210.34-0.18-0.66
0.30-0.173250.01120.32-0.17-0.71
0.25-0.153300.01030.29-0.16-0.77
0.21-0.143350.00920.26-0.14-0.81
0.17-0.123400.00810.23-0.13-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot235277.5292.5305317.53352K0
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

spot17024028531036045011K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 52K call contracts, 22K 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: CI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk