Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 2:26 AM ET

IDR max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.35
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$25+17.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.35±15.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.44317 puts / 716 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3068.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$25+17.1%30d
Fri, Dec 18$15-29.7%58d
Fri, Feb 19$25+17.1%121d
Fri, May 21$25+17.1%212d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152637485970$3M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot251522.5355065228228
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IDR 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

spot251522.53550652020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152433425160247%62%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 64.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 25152025354560+$2K−$2K
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
0.97-0.00150.01540.00-0.00-0.03
0.88-0.0117.50.04940.01-0.01-0.12
0.68-0.02200.08630.02-0.03-0.32
0.45-0.0322.50.09290.02-0.03-0.56
0.27-0.02250.07440.02-0.02-0.74
0.08-0.01300.03180.01-0.01-0.93
0.02-0.00350.01140.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.00400.00400.00-0.00-1.00
0.00-0.00450.00150.00-0.00-1.00
0.000.00500.00060.00-0.00-1.00
0.000.00550.00020.00-0.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.520304560752K0
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

spot12.520304560752K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 2K 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: IDR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk