Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 7, 2:40 AM ET

CMBT max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.41
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$12.5-23.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.38±20.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.22290 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3041.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$25Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Aug 21$15-8.6%13d
Fri, Sep 18$15-8.6%41d
Fri, Nov 20$12.5-23.8%104d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-23.8%160d
Fri, Feb 19$12.5-23.8%195d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.53814192530$2M$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot12.52.510152025481481
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CMBT 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

spot12.52.510152025596596
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot51015202530171%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 44.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot10152025+$14K$14K
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
1.00-0.002.50.00110.00-0.00-0.01
1.00-0.0050.00060.00-0.00-0.01
0.94-0.00100.02800.01-0.00-0.07
0.85-0.0112.50.05610.02-0.01-0.15
0.67-0.01150.09810.03-0.01-0.33
0.39-0.0117.50.10770.03-0.01-0.59
0.21-0.01200.07470.03-0.00-0.77
0.12-0.0022.50.04680.02-0.00-0.85
0.07-0.00250.03030.01-0.00-0.90
0.03-0.00300.01450.01-0.94

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5303K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5306K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 20K call contracts, 8K 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: CMBT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk