Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:45 PM ET

PAA max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.7
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$24.5-8.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.17±4.4% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI0.42155 puts / 366 calls
Call wall$25.5largest call OI
Put wall$14largest put OI
IV3021.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$62Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $24

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$24-10.1%4d
Fri, Nov 6$23-13.9%11d
Fri, Nov 13$24.5-8.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$22-17.6%25d
Fri, Nov 27$24-10.1%32d
Fri, Dec 4$24-10.1%39d
Fri, Dec 18$25-6.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$22-17.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$24-10.1%116d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot24.5141719222528$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 — 24.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot24.51418.52324.526127127
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PAA 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

spot24.51418.52324.5268282
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot22232425262864%18%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 20.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 241418.52324.526+$31K−$31K
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
0.98-0.01230.03000.00-0.01-0.11
0.98-0.0123.50.04140.00-0.01-0.13
0.97-0.01240.05970.00-0.01-0.16
0.95-0.0124.50.09150.00-0.01-0.19
0.93-0.01250.14880.01-0.01-0.25
0.87-0.0125.50.25580.01-0.01-0.34
0.73-0.02260.40480.02-0.01-0.47
0.51-0.0226.50.43240.02-0.01-0.61
0.23-0.0127.50.20880.02-0.01-0.79

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 9 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1417212425.5274210
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

spot31620.52427.53145K45K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 211K call contracts, 35K 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: PAA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk