Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:27 PM ET

ODD max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.41
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$22.5+0.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.1±18.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.531K puts / 778 calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3085.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$19Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$20-10.8%4d
Fri, Nov 6$20-10.8%11d
Fri, Nov 13$21-6.3%18d
Fri, Nov 20$22.5+0.4%25d
Fri, Nov 27$18-19.7%32d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5+0.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$15-33.1%81d
Fri, Apr 16$17.5-21.9%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.53916222935$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot22.52.51517.5212535904904
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ODD 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

spot22.52.51517.521253511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot101520253035216%79%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 87.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 102.51517.5212535+$27K−$27K
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
1.00-0.002.50.00060.00-0.01-0.01
0.97-0.01100.00630.00-0.02-0.03
0.92-0.02150.02040.01-0.03-0.09
0.87-0.03170.03220.01-0.03-0.14
0.85-0.0317.50.03600.01-0.03-0.15
0.74-0.04200.05970.02-0.04-0.27
0.68-0.04210.06970.02-0.04-0.33
0.56-0.0422.50.08060.02-0.04-0.45
0.37-0.04250.07750.02-0.04-0.64
0.16-0.03300.04330.01-0.03-0.86
0.08-0.02350.02350.01-0.02-0.94

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

spot12172023261K0
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

spot2.51217.52535806K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 20K call contracts, 6K 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: ODD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk