Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:31 AM ET

GTM max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.21
Max pain · Fri, Nov 6$4-5.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.83±19.6% by Fri, Nov 6
Put/Call OI0.39110 puts / 279 calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$4.5largest put OI
IV3078.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$332per 1% move · flip ≈ $4.5

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$1-76.2%4d
Fri, Nov 6$4-5.0%11d
Fri, Nov 13$0.5-88.1%18d
Fri, Nov 20$4-5.0%25d
Fri, Nov 27$0.5-88.1%32d
Fri, Dec 18$4.5+6.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$5+18.8%81d
Fri, Apr 16$3-28.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot4112345$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 — 4 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot40.52.53.54.5120120
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GTM open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 6.

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 6

spot40.52.53.54.52020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot123345403%109%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 120.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spotflip 4.50.52.53.54.5+$823−$823
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 6

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.010.50.00500.00-0.01-0.01
0.98-0.0110.01260.00-0.01-0.02
0.92-0.012.50.07370.00-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.0130.12570.00-0.01-0.12
0.82-0.013.50.22100.00-0.01-0.18
0.69-0.0140.39510.00-0.01-0.31
0.45-0.014.50.50110.00-0.01-0.55
0.29-0.0150.36420.00-0.01-0.71

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

spot0.51.52.53.54.585K0
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

spot0.535.5812.52222K22K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 72K call contracts, 19K 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: GTM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk