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

NVTS max pain

Spot (delayed)$8.44
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$8-5.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.04±24.2% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.5628 puts / 50 calls
Call wall$8largest call OI
Put wall$11largest put OI
IV3094.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$262per 1% move · flip ≈ $8

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 — 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

spot856891112$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 — 8 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot856.589.5122020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVTS open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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, Dec 4

spot856.589.5121212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot56891112106%87%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 89.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 856.589.512+$197−$197
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, Dec 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0050.03480.00-0.00-0.05
0.92-0.015.50.05070.00-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.0160.07010.01-0.01-0.12
0.83-0.016.50.09160.01-0.01-0.17
0.78-0.0170.11310.01-0.01-0.23
0.71-0.017.50.13180.01-0.01-0.30
0.63-0.0180.14540.01-0.01-0.37
0.56-0.018.50.15270.01-0.01-0.45
0.48-0.0190.15370.01-0.01-0.52
0.41-0.019.50.14950.01-0.01-0.59
0.30-0.0110.50.13100.01-0.01-0.71
0.25-0.01110.11950.01-0.01-0.75
0.18-0.01120.09620.01-0.01-0.83

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

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