Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:11 AM ET

IBN max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.46
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$28-5.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.6±5.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.19260 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$31largest call OI
Put wall$27largest put OI
IV3019.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$172Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $28

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$28-5.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$30+1.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$30+1.8%81d
Fri, Mar 19$29-1.6%144d
Fri, Jan 21$15-49.1%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot28252729323436$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot28252729313336793793
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IBN 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

spot2825272931333611
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot25272932343694%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 23.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 28252729313336+$117K−$117K
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
0.97-0.00250.02400.01-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.00260.04390.01-0.00-0.05
0.91-0.01270.08150.01-0.01-0.10
0.81-0.01280.14690.02-0.01-0.19
0.64-0.01290.22720.03-0.01-0.37
0.40-0.01300.24300.03-0.01-0.61
0.20-0.01310.17060.02-0.01-0.82
0.10-0.01320.09700.01-0.01-0.93
0.05-0.00330.05300.01-0.00-0.98
0.03-0.00340.02960.01-0.00-0.99
0.01-0.00360.01040.00—-1.00

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

spot15253034402K0
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

spot1522273237504K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 9K 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: IBN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk