Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:44 AM ET

OWL max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.37
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$9.5+1.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.1±11.7% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI1.761K puts / 660 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$8.5largest put OI
IV3050.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7

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$9.5+1.4%5d
Fri, Nov 6$9.5+1.4%12d
Fri, Nov 13$9.5+1.4%19d
Fri, Nov 20$12+28.1%26d
Fri, Nov 27$8.5-9.3%33d
Fri, Dec 4$10+6.7%40d
Fri, Dec 18$10+6.7%54d
Fri, Jan 15$12+28.1%82d
Fri, Feb 19$10+6.7%117d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot9.567891012$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 — 9.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot9.567.58.59.510.511.5485485
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OWL 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

spot9.567.58.59.510.511.52020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot67891012161%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 767.58.59.510.511.5+$11K−$11K
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
0.98-0.0060.02430.00-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.0170.05810.00-0.01-0.08
0.93-0.017.50.09270.00-0.01-0.12
0.88-0.0180.15020.00-0.01-0.18
0.80-0.018.50.23830.01-0.01-0.28
0.66-0.0190.33610.01-0.01-0.42
0.48-0.019.50.36740.01-0.01-0.59
0.32-0.01100.31250.01-0.01-0.72
0.21-0.0110.50.23510.01-0.01-0.81
0.15-0.01110.17100.01-0.01-0.87
0.10-0.0111.50.12530.00-0.01-0.91

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

spot46.58.51011.51518K0
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

spot16.51013.5173099K99K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 287K call contracts, 469K 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: OWL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk