Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:09 AM ET

INTW max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.75
Max pain · Fri, May 21$20+27.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.35±65.7% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI1.03338 puts / 329 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV30133.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$153per 1% move · flip ≈ $11

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$25+58.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$20+27.0%54d
Fri, Feb 19$20+27.0%117d
Fri, May 21$20+27.0%208d
Fri, Jan 21$19+20.6%453d
Fri, Jan 19$13-17.5%817d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2081523303845$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot2081318232833189189
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)INTW open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot20813182328333030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot81523303845123%106%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 113.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 1181318232833+$1K−$1K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.0190.01660.03-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.01100.01880.03-0.01-0.16
0.79-0.01110.02080.03-0.01-0.19
0.76-0.01120.02260.04-0.01-0.22
0.73-0.01130.02400.04-0.01-0.25
0.70-0.01140.02530.04-0.01-0.28
0.67-0.01150.02620.04-0.01-0.30
0.64-0.01160.02700.04-0.01-0.33
0.62-0.01170.02760.04-0.01-0.36
0.59-0.01180.02800.04-0.01-0.38
0.57-0.01190.02830.05-0.01-0.41
0.55-0.01200.02840.05-0.01-0.43
0.53-0.01210.02850.05-0.01-0.45
0.51-0.01220.02850.05-0.01-0.47
0.49-0.01230.02840.05-0.01-0.49

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 30 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot3.7515.6321.2527.53548.132K0
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

spot8152026.2533.75453K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 21K call contracts, 9K 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: INTW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk