Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 25, 2:33 PM ET

LVS max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.74
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$42.5+9.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.71±12.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.342K puts / 7K calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$37.5largest put OI
IV3038.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$194Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $27.5

Event risk before this expiration: 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 25$40+3.3%today
Fri, Oct 2$40+3.3%7d
Fri, Oct 9$41+5.8%14d
Fri, Oct 16$42.5+9.7%21d
Fri, Oct 23$40+3.3%28d
Fri, Oct 30$42+8.4%35d
Fri, Nov 6$37-4.5%42d
Fri, Nov 20$42.5+9.7%56d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5253137434955$6M$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot42.52532.54047.5553K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LVS 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

spot42.52532.54047.5558686
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot25313743495563%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 27.52532.54047.555+$122K−$122K
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
0.99-0.00250.00410.01-0.00-0.02
0.98-0.0027.50.00810.01-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.01300.01630.01-0.01-0.06
0.89-0.0132.50.03120.03-0.01-0.12
0.79-0.02350.05090.04-0.02-0.23
0.63-0.0237.50.06770.06-0.02-0.38
0.46-0.02400.07220.06-0.02-0.56
0.29-0.0242.50.06280.05-0.02-0.72
0.17-0.01450.04620.04-0.01-0.84
0.09-0.0147.50.03000.03-0.01-0.92
0.05-0.01500.01850.02-0.01-0.95
0.03-0.0052.50.01190.01-0.00-0.97
0.02-0.00550.00840.01-0.00-0.98

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

spot3036.539.542.545.5505880
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

spot17.5354146.5547525K25K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 112K call contracts, 48K 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: LVS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk