Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:24 AM ET

MANU max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.72
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$20-3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.6±7.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.65770 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$19largest put OI
IV3033.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$46Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $21

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$20-3.5%24d
Fri, Dec 18$20-3.5%52d
Fri, Jan 15$20-3.5%80d
Fri, Mar 19$20-3.5%143d
Fri, Jan 21$17-18.0%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20161821232628$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot20161921232528582582
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MANU 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

spot201619212325283030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot161821232628123%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 21161921232528+$31K−$31K
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
0.98-0.00160.01550.00-0.00-0.02
0.92-0.01180.06540.01-0.01-0.07
0.84-0.01190.12320.01-0.01-0.16
0.68-0.01200.19210.02-0.01-0.32
0.47-0.01210.21850.02-0.01-0.53
0.28-0.01220.17980.02-0.01-0.72
0.16-0.01230.12110.01-0.01-0.85
0.09-0.01240.07530.01-0.01-0.92
0.05-0.00250.04600.01-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.00260.02850.00-0.00-0.98
0.01-0.00280.01170.00-0.00-1.00

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

spot316202428322K0
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

spot312172227329K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 11K 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: MANU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk