Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 2:53 AM ET

NX max pain

Spot (delayed)$20
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$17.5-12.5% vs spot
Put/Call OI0.061 puts / 17 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3058.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$776per 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$17.5-12.5%27d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-12.5%55d
Fri, Mar 19$22.5+12.5%146d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5181920212223$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot17.517.52022.51414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NX 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

spot17.517.52022.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2017.52022.5+$692−$692
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
0.82-0.0117.50.08130.01-0.01-0.18
0.54-0.02200.12360.02-0.02-0.47
0.28-0.0222.50.09720.02-0.02-0.72

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

spot2.5202535870
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5309393
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 160 call contracts, 152 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: NX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk