Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 3:06 AM ET

LAZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$41.1
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$45+9.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.38±15.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.77403 puts / 228 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3043.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$12Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 18$45+9.5%6d
Fri, Oct 16$43+4.6%34d
Fri, Nov 20$45+9.5%69d
Fri, Dec 18$44+7.1%97d
Fri, Mar 19$39-5.1%188d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45253341495765$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot452535455565144144
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LAZ 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

spot4525354555653737
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot253341495765108%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2535455565+$12K$12K
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
0.97-0.01250.00610.01-0.01-0.04
0.93-0.01300.01430.03-0.01-0.09
0.83-0.02350.03020.05-0.02-0.20
0.63-0.02400.05040.07-0.02-0.40
0.37-0.02450.05160.07-0.02-0.66
0.20-0.01500.03530.05-0.01-0.83
0.11-0.01550.02210.03-0.01-0.92
0.07-0.01600.01430.02-0.01-0.97
0.05-0.01650.00970.02-0.00-0.99

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

spot35475065802K0
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

spot2037424760852K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 3K 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: LAZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk