Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:44 PM ET

LSTR max pain

Spot (delayed)$165.79
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$170+2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.45±8.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.006 puts / 6 calls
Call wall$175largest call OI
Put wall$170largest put OI
IV3035.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$465per 1% move · flip ≈ $150

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$170+2.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$175+5.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$135-18.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$160-3.5%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot170135147159171183195$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 — 170 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot17013517018019033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LSTR 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

spot17013517018019011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot13514615716817919054%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 150135170180190+$2K−$2K
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
0.95-0.041350.00520.05-0.04-0.06
0.83-0.091500.01410.12-0.09-0.18
0.41-0.121700.02380.18-0.11-0.59
0.31-0.111750.02120.16-0.10-0.69
0.22-0.091800.01750.14-0.09-0.78
0.16-0.081850.01380.11-0.07-0.84
0.12-0.061900.01060.09-0.06-0.88
0.08-0.051950.00810.07-0.05-0.91

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

spot1051501852102503002000
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

spot100130160190240300200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 426 call contracts, 291 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: LSTR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk