Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:14 PM ET

NVMI max pain

Spot (delayed)$311.35
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$360+15.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$82.7±26.6% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.19236 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$450largest call OI
Put wall$300largest put OI
IV3063.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$175Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $430

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$410+31.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$430+38.1%54d
Fri, Jan 15$360+15.6%82d
Fri, Feb 19$360+15.6%117d
Fri, May 21$300-3.6%208d
Fri, Dec 17$350+12.4%418d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot360185320455590725860$45M$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 — 360 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot360185280370460550650375375
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVMI open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot36018528037046055065011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot18532045559072586090%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 58.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 430185290380470560660+$89K−$89K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.112400.00230.44-0.11-0.17
0.80-0.122500.00260.49-0.12-0.20
0.77-0.132600.00290.54-0.14-0.23
0.74-0.142700.00310.58-0.14-0.27
0.70-0.152800.00330.62-0.15-0.30
0.67-0.162900.00350.65-0.16-0.34
0.63-0.163000.00370.67-0.17-0.38
0.59-0.173100.00380.69-0.17-0.42
0.55-0.173200.00380.70-0.17-0.46
0.51-0.173300.00390.71-0.18-0.49
0.48-0.173400.00390.71-0.18-0.53
0.44-0.173500.00380.70-0.18-0.57
0.41-0.173600.00380.69-0.17-0.60
0.38-0.163700.00370.68-0.17-0.64
0.35-0.163800.00360.66-0.17-0.67

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 52 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1402203404405407001K0
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

spot1402103404706007401K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 4K 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: NVMI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk