Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:23 PM ET

IUSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$186.05
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$181-2.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.35±5.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.3811 puts / 29 calls
Call wall$200largest call OI
Put wall$181largest put OI
IV3023.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $181

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$181-2.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$172-7.6%54d
Fri, Mar 19$165-11.3%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot181175181187193199205$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 — 181 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1811751811952052121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IUSG 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

spot18117518119520522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot17518118719319920531%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 181175181195205+$15K−$15K
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
0.80-0.081750.01800.15-0.08-0.21
0.77-0.081770.02040.16-0.08-0.24
0.69-0.091810.02580.18-0.09-0.32
0.38-0.081910.03350.20-0.08-0.64
0.26-0.061950.02870.17-0.07-0.78
0.15-0.052000.02000.12-0.05-0.90
0.09-0.032050.01300.09-0.03-0.96

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

spot115177195200220260
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

spot1051601711821932203030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 86 call contracts, 50 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: IUSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk