Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:24 PM ET

IBB max pain

Spot (delayed)$207.74
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$205-1.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.3±5.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.184K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$200largest put OI
IV3026.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$818Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $185

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$205-1.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$200-3.7%54d
Fri, Jan 15$200-3.7%82d
Fri, Mar 19$210+1.1%145d
Fri, May 21$175-15.8%208d
Thu, Jun 17$200-3.7%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot205180192204216228240$9M$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 — 205 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2051801891931972052252K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IBB 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

spot2051801891931972052253535
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot18019220421622824040%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 185180190194198210230+$1.3M−$1.3M
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
0.82-0.071950.01680.15-0.07-0.18
0.80-0.071960.01790.16-0.08-0.20
0.79-0.081970.01890.17-0.08-0.22
0.77-0.081980.02000.18-0.08-0.24
0.74-0.091990.02100.19-0.09-0.26
0.72-0.092000.02190.19-0.09-0.28
0.60-0.102050.02530.22-0.11-0.40
0.47-0.112100.02570.23-0.11-0.53
0.35-0.102150.02340.21-0.11-0.65
0.26-0.092200.01970.19-0.10-0.75
0.18-0.082250.01570.15-0.08-0.83
0.13-0.072300.01210.12-0.07-0.89
0.09-0.052350.00910.10-0.06-0.93
0.07-0.042400.00680.07-0.05-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot701281651791902202K0
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

spot601201751851952254K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 20K call contracts, 29K 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: IBB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk