Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 12:33 PM ET

IGC max pain

Spot (delayed)$0.29
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$0.5+70.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.48±161.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0445 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$0.5largest call OI
Put wall$1largest put OI
IV3021.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$128per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Aug 21$0.5+70.1%7d
Fri, Sep 18$1+240.1%35d
Fri, Nov 20$0.5+70.1%98d
Fri, Feb 19$0.5+70.1%189d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot0.5112345$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 — 0.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot0.50.511.522.551K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IGC 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

spot0.50.511.522.554141
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot111223312%198%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 197.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot0.5122.5+$120$120
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
0.54-0.000.51.31790.00-0.00-0.49
0.41-0.0011.03420.00-0.00-0.63
0.35-0.001.50.89740.00-0.00-0.69
0.32-0.0020.81410.000.00-0.73
0.30-0.002.50.75610.000.00-0.76
0.24-0.0050.60450.00-0.84

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

spot0.511.52.557.51K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 151 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: IGC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk