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

NVCR max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.68
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$10-31.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.38±23.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.04535 puts / 14K calls
Call wall$28largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3066.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$138Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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

spot1031221293847$34M$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot10311152030403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVCR open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot103111520304011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot31221293847169%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 1031115203040+$35K−$35K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0150.00760.01-0.01-0.05
0.91-0.0180.01850.01-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.01100.03230.02-0.01-0.14
0.83-0.01110.04240.02-0.01-0.17
0.79-0.01120.05520.02-0.01-0.22
0.72-0.01130.07000.02-0.01-0.28
0.65-0.01140.08340.03-0.01-0.36
0.56-0.01150.09030.03-0.01-0.46
0.47-0.01160.08910.03-0.01-0.54
0.40-0.01170.08320.03-0.01-0.61
0.35-0.01180.07580.03-0.01-0.67
0.27-0.01200.06180.02-0.01-0.75
0.20-0.01230.04640.02-0.01-0.83
0.16-0.01250.03910.02-0.01-0.86
0.13-0.01280.03100.01-0.01-0.90

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 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