Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:06 AM ET

CWCO max pain

Spot (delayed)$27.79
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$25-10.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.07±14.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.1124 puts / 227 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3045.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22.5

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, Nov 20$25-10.0%26d
Fri, Feb 19$30+8.0%117d
Fri, May 21$25-10.0%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25202632384450$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot25202535459090
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CWCO 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

spot252025354511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot202632384450154%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 22.520253545+$3K−$3K
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
0.90-0.03200.02160.01-0.03-0.11
0.85-0.0322.50.03530.02-0.03-0.16
0.76-0.03250.06050.02-0.03-0.25
0.32-0.02300.10220.03-0.02-0.71
0.12-0.02350.04130.02-0.02-0.91
0.07-0.01400.02210.01-0.02-0.95
0.05-0.01450.01430.01-0.01-0.97
0.04-0.01500.01020.01-0.01-0.98

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

spot203040501010
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

spot1520253545101101
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 249 call contracts, 71 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: CWCO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk