Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 5:54 AM ET

EG max pain

Spot (delayed)$374.72
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$380+1.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$25.95±6.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.0670 puts / 66 calls
Call wall$410largest call OI
Put wall$380largest put OI
IV3025.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$14Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $320

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 16$380+1.4%2d
Fri, Nov 20$380+1.4%37d
Fri, Jan 15$350-6.6%93d
Fri, Apr 16$390+4.1%184d
Fri, May 21$350-6.6%219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot380290316342368394420$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 — 380 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3802903303503703904102828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EG 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

spot3802903303503703904102323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot29031634236839442041%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 320290330350370390410+$40K−$40K
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
0.97-0.032900.00110.07-0.04-0.03
0.93-0.073200.00320.16-0.07-0.07
0.90-0.083300.00440.21-0.09-0.10
0.85-0.103400.00620.28-0.11-0.14
0.79-0.133500.00830.35-0.13-0.21
0.70-0.143600.01060.42-0.15-0.30
0.59-0.163700.01240.47-0.16-0.41
0.46-0.163800.01280.48-0.16-0.54
0.34-0.153900.01170.44-0.15-0.67
0.24-0.134000.00980.38-0.13-0.76
0.17-0.114100.00770.31-0.11-0.84
0.12-0.094200.00590.25-0.09-0.89

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

spot2202903503904304701K0
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

spot2102703303904505101K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 1K 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: EG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk