Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:10 PM ET

NVTS max pain

Spot (delayed)$8.44
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$10.5+24.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.71±20.3% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI0.933K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$9largest put OI
IV3094.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $6

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, Oct 30$10+18.5%5d
Fri, Nov 6$11+30.3%12d
Fri, Nov 13$10.5+24.4%19d
Fri, Nov 20$10+18.5%26d
Fri, Nov 27$9.5+12.6%33d
Fri, Dec 4$8-5.2%40d
Fri, Dec 18$14+65.9%54d
Fri, Jan 15$10+18.5%82d
Fri, Mar 19$10+18.5%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10.55811151821$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 — 10.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot10.55810.51315.519779779
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVTS open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 13.

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 13

spot10.55810.51315.5196666
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot5811151821218%98%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 106.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 65810.51315.519+$7K−$7K
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 13

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0150.03020.00-0.01-0.04
0.91-0.0160.06900.00-0.01-0.09
0.86-0.016.50.09680.01-0.01-0.14
0.80-0.0170.12760.01-0.01-0.20
0.72-0.027.50.15680.01-0.02-0.28
0.63-0.0280.17870.01-0.02-0.37
0.54-0.028.50.18940.01-0.02-0.47
0.44-0.0290.18820.01-0.02-0.56
0.36-0.029.50.17740.01-0.02-0.64
0.29-0.02100.16070.01-0.02-0.71
0.23-0.0210.50.14150.01-0.02-0.77
0.19-0.01110.12220.01-0.01-0.82
0.15-0.0111.50.10430.01-0.01-0.85
0.12-0.01120.08830.00-0.01-0.88

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot47.51012.515185K0
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

spot0.56.512.520324432K32K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 355K call contracts, 127K 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: NVTS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk