Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 15, 1:14 AM ET

MRP max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.3
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$25+17.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.6±12.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.959K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3043.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$309Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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, Oct 16$25+17.4%1d
Fri, Nov 20$25+17.4%36d
Fri, Dec 18$25+17.4%64d
Fri, Feb 19$30+40.8%127d
Fri, May 21$22.5+5.6%218d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152025303540$5M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot25152025356K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MRP 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

spot2515202535111111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152025303540134%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2015202535+$337K−$337K
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
0.95-0.01150.02070.01-0.01-0.05
0.89-0.0117.50.05130.01-0.01-0.11
0.70-0.01200.11740.02-0.01-0.30
0.37-0.0122.50.13200.03-0.01-0.64
0.17-0.01250.07750.02-0.01-0.84
0.05-0.01300.02440.01-0.01-0.97
0.02-0.00350.00970.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.00400.00460.00-0.00-1.00

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

spot15202535505K0
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

spot12.517.522.530405012K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K call contracts, 19K 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: MRP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk