Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 12:26 AM ET

CRSP max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.3
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$52.5+6.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.8±11.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.773K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$52.5largest put OI
IV3056.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$80Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $37.5

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, Oct 30$51+3.4%3d
Fri, Nov 6$51+3.4%10d
Fri, Nov 13$52+5.5%17d
Fri, Nov 20$52.5+6.5%24d
Fri, Nov 27$50+1.4%31d
Fri, Dec 4$53+7.5%38d
Fri, Dec 18$50+1.4%52d
Fri, Jan 15$52.5+6.5%80d
Fri, Apr 16$52.5+6.5%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot52.5354555657585$9M$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 — 52.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot52.53544505662.5852K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CRSP 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

spot52.53544505662.5851010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot354555657585134%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 37.53544505662.585+$125K−$125K
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
0.84-0.0442.50.03050.03-0.04-0.16
0.83-0.04430.03280.03-0.04-0.18
0.79-0.04440.03750.04-0.04-0.21
0.75-0.05450.04220.04-0.05-0.25
0.66-0.05470.05010.05-0.06-0.35
0.63-0.0647.50.05150.05-0.06-0.38
0.60-0.06480.05270.05-0.06-0.40
0.55-0.06490.05410.05-0.06-0.46
0.49-0.06500.05430.05-0.06-0.51
0.44-0.06510.05330.05-0.06-0.56
0.37-0.0652.50.05030.05-0.06-0.64
0.35-0.06530.04890.05-0.06-0.66
0.31-0.05540.04590.04-0.05-0.70
0.27-0.05550.04270.04-0.05-0.74
0.24-0.05560.03940.04-0.05-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 31 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4046515661665090
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

spot17.54048576582.55K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 38K call contracts, 20K 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: CRSP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk