Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 3:00 AM ET

ICE max pain

Spot (delayed)$162.74
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$155-4.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10±6.1% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI1.0634 puts / 32 calls
Call wall$162.5largest call OI
Put wall$150largest put OI
IV3027.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $162.5

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 30$160-1.7%6d
Fri, Nov 6$155-4.8%13d
Fri, Nov 13$155-4.8%20d
Fri, Nov 20$160-1.7%27d
Fri, Nov 27$150-7.8%34d
Fri, Dec 4$155-4.8%41d
Fri, Dec 18$145-10.9%55d
Fri, Jan 15$155-4.8%83d
Fri, Mar 19$165+1.4%146d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot155139146153161168175$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 — 155 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot155139145149155162.5172.51919
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ICE open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 13.

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 13

spot155139145149155162.5172.522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot13914615316116817555%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 162.5139145149155162.5172.5+$17K−$17K
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 13

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.88-0.071470.01330.08-0.07-0.12
0.86-0.071490.01570.09-0.08-0.14
0.84-0.081500.01700.09-0.08-0.16
0.81-0.09152.50.02060.11-0.09-0.20
0.76-0.091550.02470.12-0.10-0.25
0.69-0.10157.50.02890.14-0.10-0.31
0.62-0.111600.03240.15-0.11-0.38
0.54-0.11162.50.03450.15-0.11-0.47
0.45-0.111650.03450.15-0.11-0.56
0.37-0.10167.50.03250.15-0.11-0.64
0.24-0.09172.50.02540.12-0.09-0.77
0.20-0.081750.02170.11-0.09-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1351501601701801K0
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

spot70120141152.5177.52205K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 31K call contracts, 15K 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: ICE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk