Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:15 AM ET

IPI max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.23
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$32+2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.78±12.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.33120 puts / 360 calls
Call wall$33largest call OI
Put wall$32largest put OI
IV3055.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $32

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$32+2.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$35+12.1%53d
Fri, Mar 19$34+8.9%144d
Thu, Jun 17$25-19.9%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32283135384245$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 — 32 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot32283235384145107107
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IPI 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

spot3228323538414533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot28313538424594%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 32283235384145+$7K−$7K
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
0.77-0.03280.05950.03-0.03-0.23
0.63-0.03300.07740.03-0.03-0.37
0.55-0.03310.08190.03-0.03-0.45
0.46-0.03320.08220.03-0.03-0.54
0.39-0.03330.07880.03-0.03-0.61
0.32-0.03340.07280.03-0.03-0.68
0.26-0.03350.06520.03-0.03-0.74
0.21-0.03360.05710.03-0.03-0.79
0.17-0.02370.04920.02-0.02-0.83
0.14-0.02380.04200.02-0.02-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2030354045503190
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

spot202935414765319319
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 900 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: IPI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk