Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 10:05 AM ET

NU max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.17
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$14.5-4.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.36±15.5% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI1.811K puts / 641 calls
Call wall$14.5largest call OI
Put wall$11largest put OI
IV3061.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $11

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, Oct 23$15-1.1%2d
Fri, Oct 30$14.5-4.4%9d
Fri, Nov 6$14-7.7%16d
Fri, Nov 13$14.5-4.4%23d
Fri, Nov 20$14-7.7%30d
Fri, Nov 27$14.5-4.4%37d
Fri, Dec 18$14-7.7%58d
Fri, Jan 15$15-1.1%86d
Fri, Mar 19$13-14.3%149d
Fri, Apr 16$14-7.7%177d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot14.581013151820$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 — 14.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot14.5812.51415.51718.5487487
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NU open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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 27

spot14.5812.51415.51718.54646
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot81013151820132%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 60.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spotflip 11812.51415.51718.5+$6K−$6K
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 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01110.03700.01-0.01-0.07
0.88-0.01120.06000.01-0.01-0.12
0.85-0.0112.50.07390.01-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.01130.08880.01-0.01-0.20
0.75-0.0113.50.10390.01-0.01-0.25
0.69-0.01140.11800.02-0.01-0.31
0.63-0.0114.50.12990.02-0.01-0.37
0.56-0.01150.13830.02-0.01-0.44
0.49-0.0115.50.14240.02-0.01-0.51
0.42-0.01160.14170.02-0.01-0.58
0.36-0.0116.50.13640.02-0.01-0.65
0.29-0.01170.12730.02-0.01-0.71
0.24-0.0117.50.11540.01-0.01-0.77
0.19-0.01180.10190.01-0.01-0.82
0.15-0.0118.50.08800.01-0.01-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot59.51214.51719.549K0
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

spot1812162027200K200K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1.4M call contracts, 785K 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: NU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk