Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 1:34 AM ET

OTEX max pain

Spot (delayed)$27.22
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$25-8.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.15±7.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.48876 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$27.5largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3044.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$113Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

Event risk before this expiration: 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$25-8.2%23d
Fri, Dec 18$25-8.2%51d
Fri, Jan 15$27.5+1.0%79d
Fri, Feb 19$22.5-17.3%114d
Fri, May 21$17.5-35.7%205d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25131722263135$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2512.517.522.527.532.5771771
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OTEX 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

spot2512.517.522.527.532.5120120
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot182125283235152%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2512.517.522.527.532.5+$67K−$67K
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
0.99-0.0012.50.00280.00-0.01-0.01
0.98-0.01150.00520.00-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.0117.50.01010.01-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.01200.01980.01-0.01-0.06
0.89-0.0222.50.04040.01-0.02-0.11
0.77-0.02250.08190.02-0.02-0.24
0.51-0.0327.50.12240.03-0.03-0.50
0.26-0.02300.09260.02-0.02-0.75
0.14-0.0232.50.05490.02-0.02-0.88
0.08-0.01350.03360.01-0.01-0.93

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

spot12.52027.53542.5501K0
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

spot12.52027.53542.5501K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 2K 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: OTEX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk