Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 15, 11:29 PM ET

NOV max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.64
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$20+7.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.25±17.4% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.43285 puts / 660 calls
Call wall$21largest call OI
Put wall$16largest put OI
IV3041.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $21

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, Oct 16$19+1.9%1d
Fri, Nov 20$19+1.9%36d
Fri, Jan 15$12-35.6%92d
Fri, Feb 19$20+7.3%127d
Fri, May 21$15-19.5%218d
Fri, Aug 20$15-19.5%309d
Fri, Nov 19$10-46.4%400d
Fri, Jan 21$12-35.6%463d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20151820232528$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

spot201518212428202202
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NOV 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

spot20151821242811
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15182023252854%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 211518212428+$7K−$7K
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
0.86-0.00150.04920.03-0.00-0.14
0.81-0.00160.06560.03-0.01-0.20
0.74-0.01170.08440.04-0.01-0.28
0.65-0.01180.10210.04-0.01-0.37
0.54-0.01190.11310.04-0.01-0.49
0.43-0.01200.11280.04-0.01-0.60
0.33-0.01210.10290.04-0.01-0.70
0.26-0.01220.08860.04-0.00-0.78
0.20-0.00230.07430.03-0.00-0.84
0.16-0.00240.06190.03-0.00-0.89
0.13-0.00250.05160.02-0.00-0.92
0.09-0.00270.03690.02-0.00-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot31418222610K0
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

spot31217222710K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 30K 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: NOV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk