Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:14 AM ET

INSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.19
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$4-4.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1±23.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.98349 puts / 357 calls
Call wall$6largest call OI
Put wall$4largest put OI
IV3094.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$759per 1% move · flip ≈ $4

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$4-4.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$5+19.3%54d
Fri, Mar 19$2-52.3%145d
Thu, Jun 17$5+19.3%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot4234678$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 — 4 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot4245678325325
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)INSG 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

spot424567844
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot234678280%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 108.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 4245678+$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
0.97-0.0020.03600.00-0.00-0.03
0.64-0.0140.33780.00-0.01-0.36
0.28-0.0150.34350.00-0.01-0.73
0.10-0.0060.16520.00-0.00-0.91
0.04-0.0070.07690.00-0.00-0.97
0.02-0.0080.04070.00-0.00-0.99

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

spot27121722337580
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

spot1713192531759759
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 830 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: INSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk