Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 10:05 AM ET

GALT max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.69
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$5+35.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.33±35.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.13125 puts / 980 calls
Call wall$7.5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV30107.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$795per 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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, Oct 16$5+35.5%2d
Fri, Nov 20$5+35.5%37d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5-32.2%93d
Fri, Apr 16$5+35.5%184d
Fri, Jan 21$5+35.5%464d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot5345678$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 — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot52.557.5929929
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GALT 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

spot52.557.5100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 7.52.557.5+$888−$888
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
0.89-0.002.50.13120.00-0.00-0.12
0.25-0.0150.25070.00-0.01-0.76
0.05-0.007.50.07020.00-0.00-0.98

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

spot2.557.51012.54K0
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

spot2.53.557.51012.54K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 7K 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: GALT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk