Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 4:03 PM ET

EQT max pain

Spot (delayed)$53
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$52-1.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.9±9.2% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 63 calls
Call wall$53largest call OI
IV3033.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move

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$52-1.9%2d
Fri, Oct 23$52-1.9%9d
Fri, Oct 30$56+5.7%16d
Fri, Nov 6$52-1.9%23d
Fri, Nov 13$52-1.9%30d
Fri, Nov 20$52.5-0.9%37d
Fri, Nov 27$52-1.9%44d
Fri, Dec 18$55+3.8%65d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot52525354565758$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 — 52 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot525253545556582727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EQT open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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 27

spot5252535455565811
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot52535456575837%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot525354555658+$5K−$5K
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 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.64-0.02520.06630.07-0.03-0.39
0.57-0.03530.06860.07-0.03-0.46
0.50-0.03540.06840.07-0.03-0.53
0.44-0.03550.06630.07-0.03-0.60
0.38-0.03560.06270.07-0.03-0.66
0.28-0.02580.05300.06-0.02-0.76

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

spot32.544485257625K0
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

spot2037.54652607039K39K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 168K call contracts, 195K 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: EQT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk