Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 1, 12:27 AM ET

CTO max pain

Spot (delayed)$19.71
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$22.5+14.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.98±4.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.79220 puts / 277 calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3022.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Nov 20$22.5+14.2%19d
Fri, Dec 18$20+1.5%47d
Fri, Feb 19$20+1.5%110d
Fri, May 21$17.5-11.2%201d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.5131518202325$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot22.512.51517.52022.525166166
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CTO 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

spot22.512.51517.52022.52588
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot18192122242594%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2012.51517.52022.525+$2K−$2K
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
0.97-0.0112.50.01410.00-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.01150.03230.01-0.01-0.06
0.87-0.0117.50.09710.01-0.01-0.13
0.41-0.01200.37210.02-0.01-0.63
0.11-0.0122.50.09300.01-0.01-0.93
0.06-0.01250.04160.01-0.01-0.97

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

spot17.52022.525302520
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.530272272
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 555 call contracts, 327 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: CTO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk