Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:26 AM ET

EZBC max pain

Spot (delayed)$46.78
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$48+2.6% vs spot
Put/Call OI0.9120 puts / 22 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$48largest put OI
IV3037.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$613per 1% move · flip ≈ $48

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$48+2.6%25d
Fri, Dec 18$38-18.8%53d
Fri, Mar 19$32-31.6%144d
Thu, Jun 17$44-5.9%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot48454748505153$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 — 48 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot4845485051532020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EZBC 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

spot48454850515311
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot45474850515348%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 484548505153+$4K−$4K
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
0.68-0.03450.06960.05-0.03-0.32
0.45-0.04480.07930.05-0.04-0.56
0.31-0.03500.06820.05-0.03-0.69
0.26-0.03510.06060.04-0.03-0.75
0.18-0.03530.04610.04-0.03-0.83

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

spot293543475053280
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

spot293439444954100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 121 call contracts, 177 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: EZBC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk