Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 12:01 AM ET

INV max pain

Spot (delayed)$0.3
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$2.5+734.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.4±133.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.081K puts / 15K calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV30169.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$420per 1% move

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$2.5+734.4%30d
Fri, Dec 18$1.5+400.7%58d
Fri, Feb 19$0.5+66.9%121d
Fri, May 21$0.5+66.9%212d
Fri, Jan 21$0.5+66.9%457d
Fri, Jan 19$0.5+66.9%821d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.513581013$7M$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2.50.525106K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)INV 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

spot2.50.5251011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot13581013739%215%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 396.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot0.52.57.512.5+$118−$118
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
0.30-0.000.51.90310.00-0.00-0.71
0.16-0.0010.98540.00-0.00-0.85
0.11-0.0020.58630.00-0.00-0.91
0.09-0.002.50.50700.00-0.00-0.93
0.07-0.0050.33790.000.00-0.97
0.06-0.007.50.27290.000.00-0.99
0.05-0.00100.23640.000.00-0.99
0.05-0.0012.50.21220.000.00-1.00

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

spot0.51.52.57.512.510K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.512.510K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 34K call contracts, 1K 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: INV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk