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

FWRD max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.3
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$17.5+14.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.6±23.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.139 puts / 72 calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3082.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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$17.5+14.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$15-2.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-18.3%81d
Fri, Mar 19$17.5+14.4%144d
Fri, Dec 17$10-34.6%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.581115182225$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot17.57.51517.52022.5255050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FWRD 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

spot17.57.51517.52022.52511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot81115182225207%84%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 107.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 17.57.51517.52022.525+$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
0.96-0.017.50.01140.00-0.01-0.04
0.59-0.03150.11020.02-0.03-0.41
0.33-0.0217.50.10030.01-0.02-0.67
0.19-0.02200.06760.01-0.02-0.81
0.12-0.0222.50.04540.01-0.02-0.88
0.09-0.01250.03200.01-0.01-0.92

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

spot512.52030452K0
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

spot2.51017.52540555K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 18K call contracts, 2K 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: FWRD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk