Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:36 AM ET

GAIN max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.68
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$15+2.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.93±6.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.09115 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3031.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$71Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$15+2.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5-14.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$15+2.2%81d
Fri, Apr 16$15+2.2%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot153610131720$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152.51015201K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GAIN 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

spot152.5101520509509
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 107.51012.51517.520+$68K−$68K
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
1.00-0.002.50.00080.00-0.00-0.00
0.98-0.007.50.00850.00-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.01100.02540.00-0.01-0.05
0.88-0.0112.50.09130.01-0.01-0.13
0.43-0.01150.33800.02-0.01-0.60
0.07-0.0017.50.08000.01-0.00-0.94
0.03-0.00200.02620.00-0.00-0.98

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

spot101520302K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 383 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: GAIN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk