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

GTM max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.21
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$4-5.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.85±20.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.358K puts / 24K calls
Call wall$5.5largest call OI
Put wall$3largest put OI
IV3078.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$93Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $3

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 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

spot4124578$6M$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 20

spot40.52.545.5821K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GTM 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

spot40.52.545.588K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot234678247%84%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 87.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 30.52.53.54.55.57+$95K−$95K
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
0.99-0.000.50.00550.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.0010.01380.00-0.00-0.02
0.94-0.0120.04540.00-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.012.50.07570.00-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.0130.12510.00-0.01-0.13
0.80-0.013.50.20890.00-0.01-0.20
0.67-0.0140.34190.00-0.01-0.33
0.47-0.014.50.42390.01-0.01-0.52
0.32-0.0150.34020.00-0.01-0.68
0.24-0.015.50.25400.00-0.01-0.76
0.19-0.0160.19780.00-0.01-0.80
0.14-0.0170.13520.00-0.01-0.85
0.12-0.0180.10260.00-0.01-0.88

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