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

NOVT max pain

Spot (delayed)$140.8
Max pain · Fri, Sep 17$115-18.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$53.75±38.2% by Fri, Sep 17
Put/Call OI10.18112 puts / 11 calls
Call wall$140largest call OI
Put wall$115largest put OI
IV3058.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$8Kper 1% move

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

spot11570100130160190220$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot115701001151401502009696
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NOVT open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 17.

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, Sep 17

spot1157010011514015020011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot7010013016019022064%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot70100115140150200+$8K−$8K
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, Sep 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01700.00150.17-0.02-0.07
0.87-0.02900.00260.27-0.02-0.13
0.83-0.021000.00320.33-0.03-0.17
0.79-0.031100.00390.38-0.03-0.21
0.77-0.031150.00420.41-0.03-0.24
0.69-0.041300.00500.47-0.04-0.32
0.63-0.041400.00540.50-0.04-0.38
0.61-0.041450.00560.51-0.04-0.41
0.58-0.041500.00570.52-0.04-0.44
0.45-0.041750.00580.53-0.04-0.58
0.34-0.042000.00540.49-0.04-0.70
0.27-0.032200.00490.44-0.04-0.79

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