Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 7:48 AM ET

NBBK max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.63
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$20-11.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.8±12.4% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.183 puts / 17 calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3026.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$654per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$25+10.5%23d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-22.7%51d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5-22.7%79d
Fri, Feb 19$20-11.6%114d
Fri, May 21$30+32.6%205d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20202122232425$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot202022.52588
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NBBK open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot202022.52511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot2022.525+$293−$293
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.76-0.01200.06750.04-0.01-0.23
0.54-0.0122.50.11590.05-0.01-0.45
0.31-0.01250.09180.04-0.01-0.69

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

spot12.517.522.5309140
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

spot51015202535921921
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 985 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: NBBK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk