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

PFG max pain

Spot (delayed)$108.21
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$110+1.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.63±7.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.54368 puts / 239 calls
Call wall$115largest call OI
Put wall$105largest put OI
IV3028.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$40Kper 1% move

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$110+1.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$115+6.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$100-7.6%81d
Fri, Apr 16$110+1.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot11095108121134147160$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 — 110 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot11095105115125160308308
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PFG 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

spot11095105115125160443443
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot95108121134147160114%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot95105115125160+$124K−$124K
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
0.91-0.04950.01230.05-0.04-0.09
0.85-0.051000.02100.07-0.05-0.15
0.74-0.061050.03460.09-0.06-0.26
0.54-0.071100.04740.12-0.07-0.47
0.31-0.061150.04280.10-0.06-0.70
0.16-0.041200.02760.07-0.04-0.85
0.09-0.031250.01640.05-0.03-0.93
0.01-0.011550.00150.01-0.01-1.00
0.01-0.011600.00110.01-0.01-1.00

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

spot851001151301451602380
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

spot5075100125150175323323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 992 call contracts, 617 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: PFG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk