Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 2:32 AM ET

NCNO max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.43
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$20-14.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.98±21.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.29156 puts / 539 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3053.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · 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$17.5-25.3%28d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5-4.0%56d
Fri, Jan 15$20-14.6%84d
Fri, Feb 19$25+6.7%119d
Fri, Mar 19$15-36.0%147d
Fri, May 21$15-36.0%210d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2051117232935$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, Jan 15

spot2051015202535202202
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NCNO open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot205101520253522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot51117232935210%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 1551015202535+$5K−$5K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99—50.00210.00-0.00-0.01
0.99—7.50.00330.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.00100.00600.01-0.00-0.03
0.96-0.0012.50.01050.01-0.01-0.04
0.92-0.01150.01850.01-0.01-0.08
0.86-0.0117.50.03160.03-0.01-0.14
0.75-0.01200.04850.04-0.01-0.24
0.60-0.0122.50.06170.04-0.01-0.39
0.44-0.01250.06380.04-0.01-0.55
0.21-0.01300.04560.03-0.01-0.78
0.10-0.01350.02610.02-0.00-0.90

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

spot512.517.522.5301K0
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

spot2.51017.525401K1K
■ 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: NCNO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk