Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 7:14 PM ET

CTAS max pain

Spot (delayed)$225.89
Max pain · Fri, Nov 6$210-7.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.95±3.5% by Fri, Nov 6
Put/Call OI0.90127 puts / 141 calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$165largest put OI
IV3023.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$100Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $200

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$205-9.2%4d
Fri, Nov 6$210-7.0%11d
Fri, Nov 13$205-9.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$200-11.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$210-7.0%32d
Fri, Dec 4$230+1.8%39d
Fri, Dec 18$175-22.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$190-15.9%81d
Fri, Feb 19$200-11.5%116d
Fri, Mar 19$195-13.7%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot210165179193207221235$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 — 210 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot2101651952102202304848
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CTAS open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 6.

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 6

spot21016519521022023022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot16517919320722123587%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spotflip 200165195210220230+$71K−$71K
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 6

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.10207.50.01110.07-0.11-0.09
0.89-0.112100.01360.08-0.12-0.11
0.86-0.13212.50.01690.09-0.13-0.14
0.83-0.142150.02090.10-0.14-0.17
0.78-0.15217.50.02600.12-0.15-0.22
0.72-0.162200.03180.13-0.16-0.28
0.65-0.17222.50.03770.15-0.17-0.35
0.55-0.172250.04180.16-0.17-0.45
0.44-0.17227.50.04220.15-0.17-0.56
0.34-0.162300.03860.14-0.16-0.66
0.27-0.15232.50.03290.13-0.15-0.74
0.21-0.132350.02710.11-0.14-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot190202.5212.5222.5232.5560
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

spot851351802052302654K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K call contracts, 14K 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: CTAS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk