Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 8:07 PM ET

FHI max pain

Spot (delayed)$56.28
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$52.5-6.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.05±7.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.193 puts / 16 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3033.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $52.5

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$52.5-6.7%24d
Fri, Dec 18$57.5+2.2%52d
Fri, Jan 15$42.5-24.5%80d
Fri, Apr 16$37.5-33.4%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot52.5505254565860$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 — 52.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot52.55052.55557.56077
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FHI 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

spot52.55052.55557.56011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot50525456586082%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 52.55052.55557.560+$1K−$1K
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
0.84-0.04500.03410.04-0.04-0.18
0.76-0.0452.50.05120.04-0.04-0.25
0.63-0.04550.07430.05-0.04-0.39
0.43-0.0457.50.07980.06-0.04-0.58
0.28-0.04600.06090.05-0.04-0.73

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

spot355055606580150
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

spot32.542.552.562.572.53232
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 65 call contracts, 49 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: FHI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk