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

CTAS max pain

Spot (delayed)$225.89
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$200-11.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.8±5.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.064K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$180largest put OI
IV3023.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.9Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $210

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$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

spot200105146187228269310$30M$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 — 200 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot200105155190212.52302701K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CTAS 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

spot200105155190212.523027099
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot13517020524027531094%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 210125165200217.5235290+$1.0M−$1.0M
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
0.88-0.06207.50.01180.12-0.07-0.13
0.86-0.072100.01410.13-0.08-0.15
0.82-0.08212.50.01680.15-0.09-0.19
0.78-0.092150.01960.17-0.09-0.23
0.73-0.10217.50.02250.20-0.10-0.28
0.68-0.112200.02510.21-0.11-0.34
0.61-0.11222.50.02710.23-0.11-0.40
0.54-0.122250.02820.23-0.11-0.47
0.47-0.12227.50.02820.23-0.11-0.54
0.40-0.112300.02720.23-0.11-0.60
0.34-0.11232.50.02540.22-0.10-0.67
0.29-0.102350.02300.20-0.10-0.72
0.20-0.092400.01800.17-0.08-0.80
0.14-0.072450.01360.13-0.07-0.86
0.10-0.062500.01010.11-0.06-0.90

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 39 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