Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 12:38 AM ET

PL max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.94
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$15+15.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.25±17.4% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI0.50203 puts / 407 calls
Call wall$17largest call OI
Put wall$13largest put OI
IV3070.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12

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 23$14.5+12.1%today
Fri, Oct 30$15+15.9%7d
Fri, Nov 6$14.5+12.1%14d
Fri, Nov 13$16+23.6%21d
Fri, Nov 20$17+31.4%28d
Fri, Nov 27$15+15.9%35d
Fri, Dec 18$17+31.4%56d
Fri, Jan 15$20+54.6%84d
Fri, Apr 16$17+31.4%175d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15101316192225$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot151013.51618.52125122122
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PL open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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 27

spot151013.51618.521252323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot101316192225216%54%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 69.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spotflip 121013.51618.52125+$2K−$2K
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 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.01100.05870.01-0.01-0.11
0.81-0.01110.09020.01-0.01-0.19
0.70-0.01120.12190.01-0.01-0.30
0.63-0.0112.50.13320.02-0.01-0.37
0.56-0.01130.13940.02-0.01-0.44
0.49-0.0113.50.14050.02-0.01-0.51
0.43-0.01140.13700.02-0.01-0.58
0.37-0.0114.50.13010.01-0.01-0.64
0.32-0.01150.12100.01-0.01-0.69
0.27-0.0115.50.11080.01-0.01-0.74
0.23-0.01160.10040.01-0.01-0.78
0.20-0.0116.50.09010.01-0.01-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot612151821264K0
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

spot311.51722.5334418K18K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 162K call contracts, 70K 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: PL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk