Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:32 AM ET

ENSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$175.59
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$170-3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14±8.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.2263 puts / 281 calls
Call wall$175largest call OI
Put wall$165largest put OI
IV3034.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$165Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $175

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$170-3.2%26d
Fri, Dec 18$165-6.0%54d
Fri, Mar 19$190+8.2%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot170145156167178189200$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 — 170 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot170145165175185200200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ENSG 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

spot17014516517518520033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot14515616717818920056%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 175145165175185200+$143K−$143K
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
0.92-0.071450.00570.07-0.07-0.08
0.81-0.101600.01310.13-0.10-0.19
0.75-0.111650.01680.16-0.11-0.25
0.66-0.121700.02060.18-0.12-0.34
0.55-0.121750.02320.19-0.12-0.45
0.43-0.121800.02340.19-0.12-0.57
0.33-0.111850.02110.18-0.11-0.68
0.25-0.101900.01770.15-0.10-0.76
0.14-0.082000.01140.11-0.08-0.87

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

spot951251501752002502K0
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

spot951251551852302902K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 632 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: ENSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk