Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 10, 11:23 PM ET

CXT max pain

Spot (delayed)$50.45
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$45-10.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.33±10.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.057 puts / 133 calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3042.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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 16$50-0.9%4d
Fri, Nov 20$45-10.8%39d
Fri, Dec 18$40-20.7%67d
Fri, Mar 19$45-10.8%158d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45253545556575$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot452545505575126126
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CXT 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

spot45254550557566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot25354555657585%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 39.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 502545505575+$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
1.00-0.00250.00040.00-0.00-0.01
0.79-0.03450.03980.05-0.03-0.22
0.54-0.03500.05840.07-0.03-0.46
0.28-0.03550.04780.06-0.03-0.72
0.03-0.01750.00630.01-0.01-0.96

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

spot22.5354555656890
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

spot20304560752K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 172 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: CXT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk