Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:31 AM ET

ICLN max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.07
Max pain · Fri, Nov 6$17.5+8.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.9±11.8% by Fri, Nov 6
Put/Call OI151.00302 puts / 2 calls
Call wall$18largest call OI
Put wall$16largest put OI
IV3033.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$24Kper 1% move

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$18+12.0%5d
Fri, Nov 6$17.5+8.9%12d
Fri, Nov 13$17+5.8%19d
Fri, Nov 20$19+18.2%26d
Fri, Nov 27$18+12.0%33d
Fri, Dec 18$13-19.1%54d
Fri, Jan 15$14-12.9%82d
Fri, Apr 16$18+12.0%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5161717181920$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot17.51616.51717.51819.5284284
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ICLN 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

spot17.51616.51717.51819.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot161717181920169%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 75.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot1616.51717.51819.5+$23K−$23K
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
0.53-0.02160.30970.01-0.02-0.47
0.39-0.0216.50.28260.01-0.02-0.61
0.29-0.02170.22290.01-0.02-0.71
0.23-0.0217.50.17420.01-0.02-0.77
0.19-0.02180.13910.01-0.02-0.81
0.12-0.0219.50.08080.01-0.02-0.88

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

spot15.517.519.522.5500
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

spot311151923306K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 10K 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: ICLN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk