Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 1:48 AM ET

NDSN max pain

Spot (delayed)$324.27
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$320-1.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.85±5.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.28185 puts / 661 calls
Call wall$340largest call OI
Put wall$320largest put OI
IV3024.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$813Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $300

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$320-1.3%24d
Fri, Dec 18$320-1.3%52d
Fri, Mar 19$240-26.0%143d
Thu, Jun 17$200-38.3%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot320260280300320340360$2M$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 — 320 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot320260310330350383383
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NDSN 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

spot32026031033035033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot26028030032034036048%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 300260310330350+$598K−$598K
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
0.97-0.052600.00170.06-0.05-0.03
0.85-0.123000.00900.19-0.12-0.15
0.76-0.143100.01370.26-0.15-0.24
0.61-0.173200.01860.32-0.17-0.40
0.41-0.163300.01920.32-0.17-0.59
0.26-0.143400.01500.27-0.14-0.75
0.16-0.123500.01040.20-0.12-0.85
0.10-0.093600.00700.15-0.09-0.90

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

spot1702503003504005180
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

spot170200260320380440518518
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 1K 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: NDSN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk