Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 12:25 AM ET

NEOG max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.79
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$12.5+6.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.45±12.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.1070 puts / 679 calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3037.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$20Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$12.5+6.0%29d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5-36.4%57d
Fri, Jan 15$10-15.2%85d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5+6.0%176d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.581114172023$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot12.57.51012.51522.5628628
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NEOG 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

spot12.57.51012.51522.52121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot81114172023135%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 48.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 107.51012.51522.5+$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 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.007.50.02530.00-0.00-0.04
0.88-0.01100.11160.01-0.01-0.13
0.36-0.0112.50.24440.01-0.01-0.65
0.16-0.01150.09580.01-0.01-0.85
0.07-0.0122.50.02830.00-0.01-0.94

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.511K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.511K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 19K 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: NEOG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk