Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 11, 11:03 PM ET

MS max pain

Spot (delayed)$190.69
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$190-0.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.23±8.0% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI0.7276 puts / 105 calls
Call wall$195largest call OI
Put wall$180largest put OI
IV3031.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$23Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $200
Earnings · expectedWed, Oct 14usually after the close

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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$197.5+3.6%4d← 1st expiry after earnings (Wed, Oct 14)
Fri, Oct 23$195+2.3%11d
Fri, Oct 30$195+2.3%18d
Fri, Nov 6$190-0.4%25d
Fri, Nov 13$190-0.4%32d
Fri, Nov 20$195+2.3%39d
Fri, Nov 27$185-3.0%46d
Fri, Dec 18$185-3.0%67d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot190155168181194207220$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 — 190 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot1901551751902052202727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MS open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 13.

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 13

spot1901551751902052206565
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot15516818119420722037%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 200155175190205220+$20K−$20K
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 13

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.021550.00320.04-0.03-0.04
0.93-0.051650.00760.08-0.05-0.10
0.88-0.061700.01100.12-0.07-0.14
0.81-0.081750.01480.15-0.08-0.21
0.73-0.101800.01840.19-0.10-0.29
0.63-0.111850.02110.22-0.10-0.39
0.52-0.111900.02250.23-0.11-0.49
0.41-0.101950.02200.23-0.10-0.60
0.30-0.092000.02000.20-0.09-0.70
0.21-0.072050.01670.17-0.07-0.79
0.14-0.062100.01310.14-0.06-0.86
0.10-0.042150.00970.10-0.04-0.91
0.07-0.032200.00710.08-0.03-0.94

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

spot80150182.5202.5222.52608K0
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

spot5097.515518521526521K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 169K call contracts, 234K 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: MS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk