Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:03 AM ET

NVDS max pain

Spot (delayed)$19.8
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$16-19.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.03±15.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.1810 puts / 57 calls
Call wall$18largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3060.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $16

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, Nov 20$16-19.2%26d
Fri, Dec 18$20+1.0%54d
Fri, Mar 19$20+1.0%145d
Thu, Jun 17$35+76.8%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot16141618202224$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 — 16 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot161416182022241717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVDS open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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 20

spot1614161820222488
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot14161820222491%60%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 16141618202224+$700−$700
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 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.01140.02730.00-0.01-0.06
0.94-0.01150.04050.01-0.01-0.08
0.90-0.01160.05850.01-0.01-0.12
0.83-0.02170.08150.01-0.02-0.18
0.74-0.02180.10510.02-0.02-0.27
0.62-0.02190.11980.02-0.02-0.38
0.49-0.02200.11930.02-0.02-0.50
0.39-0.03210.10830.02-0.02-0.60
0.31-0.02220.09360.02-0.02-0.68
0.25-0.02230.07930.02-0.02-0.74
0.20-0.02240.06690.01-0.02-0.79

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

spot131721253034810
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

spot17131925318686
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 369 call contracts, 289 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: NVDS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk