Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:01 AM ET

NVCR max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.68
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$15+2.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.95±20.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.17167 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$19largest call OI
Put wall$14largest put OI
IV3066.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12

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$15+2.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$15+2.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$10-31.9%81d
Fri, Mar 19$15+2.2%144d
Thu, Jun 17$15+2.2%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15101520253035$2M$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot151013161930753753
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVCR open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot15101316193011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot101520253035164%55%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 73.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 121013161930+$12K−$12K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.01100.03330.01-0.01-0.12
0.85-0.01110.04520.01-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.01120.06110.02-0.01-0.20
0.74-0.01130.08050.02-0.01-0.27
0.65-0.01140.09930.02-0.01-0.36
0.54-0.01150.10920.02-0.01-0.47
0.44-0.01160.10680.02-0.01-0.57
0.36-0.01170.09690.02-0.01-0.66
0.29-0.01180.08510.02-0.01-0.72
0.24-0.01190.07400.02-0.01-0.77
0.21-0.01200.06430.02-0.01-0.81
0.10-0.01250.03420.01-0.01-0.92
0.06-0.01300.02060.01-0.01-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot3121725373K0
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

spot39152130453K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K 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: NVCR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk