Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:09 AM ET

NVDL max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.02
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$17.67-43.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.23±29.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.4249K puts / 116K calls
Call wall$26.67largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3083.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.1Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $16.67

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, Oct 30$34.5+11.2%5d
Fri, Nov 6$35.5+14.4%12d
Fri, Nov 13$33+6.4%19d
Fri, Nov 20$35+12.8%26d
Fri, Nov 27$34+9.6%33d
Fri, Dec 4$34.5+11.2%40d
Fri, Dec 18$30-3.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$17.67-43.0%82d
Fri, Mar 19$35+12.8%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.6751728405263$375M$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 — 17.67 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot17.67513.33202832.6746.6722K22K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVDL 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

spot17.67513.33202832.6746.678080
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot51728405263240%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 79.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 16.67513.33202832.6746.67+$576K−$576K
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
0.70-0.0227.330.03030.05-0.02-0.30
0.68-0.02280.03150.05-0.02-0.32
0.66-0.0228.330.03210.05-0.02-0.33
0.65-0.0228.670.03270.05-0.03-0.34
0.63-0.0329.330.03370.06-0.03-0.37
0.60-0.03300.03460.06-0.03-0.39
0.58-0.0330.670.03530.06-0.03-0.41
0.57-0.03310.03560.06-0.03-0.43
0.56-0.0331.330.03590.06-0.03-0.44
0.55-0.0331.670.03610.06-0.03-0.45
0.53-0.03320.03630.06-0.03-0.46
0.51-0.0332.670.03660.06-0.03-0.49
0.50-0.03330.03670.06-0.03-0.50
0.49-0.0333.330.03680.06-0.03-0.51
0.43-0.03350.03660.06-0.03-0.57

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot202932.53639.5452K0
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

spot516.6726.33313646.6726K26K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 219K call contracts, 101K 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: NVDL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk