Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 12:40 AM ET

DLTR max pain

Spot (delayed)$124.92
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$128+2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.6±6.9% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI0.59272 puts / 462 calls
Call wall$155largest call OI
Put wall$128largest put OI
IV3040.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$58Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $95

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$121-3.1%3d
Fri, Nov 6$115-7.9%10d
Fri, Nov 13$128+2.5%17d
Fri, Nov 20$115-7.9%24d
Fri, Nov 27$111-11.1%31d
Fri, Dec 4$118-5.5%38d
Fri, Dec 18$120-3.9%52d
Fri, Jan 15$100-19.9%80d
Fri, Feb 19$125+0.1%115d
Fri, Mar 19$130+4.1%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1288098116134152170$2M$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 — 128 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot128801071151231311407878
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DLTR open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 13.

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 13

spot128801071151231311402424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot8098116134152170102%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 9580107116124132155+$28K−$28K
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 13

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.75-0.101180.02740.09-0.10-0.25
0.72-0.101190.02920.09-0.11-0.28
0.69-0.111200.03090.10-0.11-0.31
0.66-0.111210.03250.10-0.12-0.34
0.63-0.121220.03380.10-0.12-0.37
0.59-0.121230.03480.11-0.12-0.41
0.56-0.121240.03550.11-0.12-0.44
0.52-0.121250.03590.11-0.12-0.48
0.49-0.121260.03600.11-0.12-0.52
0.45-0.121270.03570.11-0.12-0.55
0.42-0.121280.03520.11-0.12-0.59
0.38-0.121290.03430.11-0.12-0.62
0.35-0.111300.03320.10-0.11-0.65
0.32-0.111310.03190.10-0.11-0.68
0.29-0.111320.03050.10-0.11-0.71

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 45 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot651031121211301402580
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

spot351001131261391558K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41K call contracts, 29K 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: DLTR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk