Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:47 AM ET

MASS max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.49
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$12.5+8.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.53±22.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI3.50756 puts / 216 calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3072.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$12.5+8.8%25d
Fri, Feb 19$5-56.5%116d
Fri, May 21$10-13.0%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.55810131518$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot12.557.51012.51517.5601601
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MASS 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

spot12.557.51012.51517.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot5810131518272%79%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 82.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 107.51012.51517.5+$9K−$9K
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
0.95-0.0150.01450.00-0.01-0.04
0.90-0.017.50.04000.01-0.01-0.10
0.74-0.02100.11220.01-0.02-0.25
0.37-0.0212.50.16010.01-0.02-0.63
0.17-0.01150.08800.01-0.01-0.82
0.11-0.0117.50.05260.01-0.01-0.89

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

spot51015202280
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5601601
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 434 call contracts, 757 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: MASS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk