Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 4:28 AM ET

MQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.85
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$16-15.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.6±13.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0229 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$21largest call OI
Put wall$18largest put OI
IV3051.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$60Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $16

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$16-15.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$16-15.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$16-15.1%81d
Fri, Mar 19$16-15.1%144d
Thu, Jun 17$15-20.4%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot16131517202224$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 — 16 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot161316182022866866
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MQ 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

spot16131618202222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot131517202224124%60%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 161316182022+$34K−$34K
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
0.93-0.01130.02530.01-0.01-0.07
0.88-0.01150.04920.01-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01160.07030.01-0.01-0.16
0.77-0.02170.09980.02-0.02-0.23
0.66-0.02180.13160.02-0.02-0.35
0.51-0.02190.14580.02-0.02-0.49
0.38-0.02200.13390.02-0.02-0.62
0.28-0.02210.11130.02-0.02-0.72
0.22-0.02220.08950.01-0.02-0.79
0.13-0.01240.05770.01-0.01-0.88

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

spot916182022241K0
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

spot59131721251K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 2K 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: MQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk