Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:29 AM ET

MTH max pain

Spot (delayed)$63.61
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$60-5.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.05±9.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI2.06877 puts / 426 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3046.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$36Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

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$60-5.7%24d
Fri, Dec 18$70+10.0%52d
Fri, Mar 19$65+2.2%143d
Thu, Jun 17$60-5.7%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60455157636975$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot604552.56067.575433433
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MTH 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

spot604552.56067.5752121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot455157636975106%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 44.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 654552.56067.575+$41K−$41K
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
0.98-0.01450.00440.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.0147.50.00680.01-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.02500.01030.02-0.02-0.05
0.93-0.0352.50.01560.03-0.03-0.08
0.88-0.03550.02300.03-0.04-0.12
0.81-0.0457.50.03240.04-0.04-0.19
0.72-0.05600.04210.06-0.06-0.29
0.60-0.0662.50.04870.07-0.06-0.41
0.48-0.06650.04960.07-0.07-0.53
0.37-0.0667.50.04540.06-0.06-0.64
0.28-0.06700.03880.06-0.06-0.73
0.22-0.0572.50.03200.05-0.05-0.80
0.17-0.05750.02600.04-0.05-0.85

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

spot42.557.567.577.587.51058390
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

spot3045607590120840840
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K 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: MTH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk