Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:14 PM ET

NOVT max pain

Spot (delayed)$140.8
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$95-32.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$36.05±25.6% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.203 puts / 15 calls
Call wall$170largest call OI
Put wall$95largest put OI
IV3058.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $95

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$130-7.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$135-4.1%53d
Fri, Feb 19$135-4.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$95-32.5%144d
Fri, May 21$80-43.2%207d
Fri, Sep 17$115-18.3%326d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot957594113132151170$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 — 95 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot957511013514515577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NOVT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot957511013514515511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot759411313215117069%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 9575110135145155+$1K−$1K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.02750.00150.09-0.02-0.04
0.89-0.03950.00340.16-0.03-0.11
0.82-0.041100.00520.24-0.05-0.18
0.75-0.051200.00650.28-0.05-0.25
0.63-0.061350.00800.34-0.06-0.37
0.59-0.061400.00840.35-0.06-0.41
0.55-0.061450.00860.35-0.06-0.46
0.50-0.061500.00870.35-0.06-0.50
0.46-0.061550.00870.35-0.06-0.55
0.35-0.061700.00820.33-0.06-0.66

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

spot551001351651952508520
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

spot5585115145175210853853
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 3K 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: NOVT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk