Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:31 AM ET

MMED max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.66
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$17.5-6.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.75±14.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.286K puts / 22K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3040.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$970Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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$17.5-6.2%24d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-6.2%52d
Fri, Jan 15$10-46.4%80d
Fri, Feb 19$10-46.4%115d
Fri, Mar 19$10-46.4%143d
Fri, Apr 16$15-19.6%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.581217212630$24M$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot17.57.512.517.522.53015K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MMED 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

spot17.57.512.517.522.5301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot101418222630242%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 17.57.512.517.522.530+$869K−$869K
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
0.98-0.017.50.00520.00-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01100.01070.00-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.0112.50.02270.01-0.01-0.05
0.89-0.01150.05410.01-0.01-0.11
0.71-0.0217.50.14880.02-0.02-0.29
0.26-0.01200.16730.02-0.01-0.73
0.09-0.0122.50.06540.01-0.01-0.90
0.05-0.01250.03120.01-0.01-0.95
0.02-0.00300.01110.00-0.00-0.98

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

spot2.5101517.5202522K0
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

spot2.51116212622K22K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 35K call contracts, 12K 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: MMED workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk