Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 2:36 PM ET

QBTS max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.64
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$16+37.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.53±21.7% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI1.14363 puts / 319 calls
Call wall$12largest call OI
Put wall$16largest put OI
IV3086.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$362per 1% move · flip ≈ $12

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$12+3.1%2d
Fri, Nov 6$12.5+7.4%9d
Fri, Nov 13$12.5+7.4%16d
Fri, Nov 20$16+37.5%23d
Fri, Nov 27$13+11.7%30d
Fri, Dec 4$16+37.5%37d
Fri, Dec 18$12+3.1%51d
Fri, Jan 15$15+28.9%79d
Fri, Mar 19$13+11.7%142d
Fri, Apr 16$14+20.3%170d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1691114161921$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 — 16 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot168.5111315.517.521210210
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QBTS open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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, Dec 4

spot168.5111315.517.5211818
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot91113151719119%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 85.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 128.5111315.517.521+$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, Dec 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.018.50.05360.01-0.01-0.11
0.86-0.0190.06700.01-0.01-0.14
0.76-0.01100.09460.01-0.01-0.24
0.71-0.0110.50.10700.01-0.01-0.29
0.65-0.02110.11690.01-0.02-0.35
0.59-0.0211.50.12370.01-0.02-0.42
0.52-0.02120.12690.01-0.02-0.48
0.46-0.0212.50.12670.01-0.02-0.54
0.41-0.02130.12350.01-0.02-0.60
0.35-0.0213.50.11790.01-0.02-0.65
0.31-0.01140.11060.01-0.01-0.70
0.23-0.01150.09380.01-0.01-0.78
0.20-0.0115.50.08530.01-0.01-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7.51114.51821.5276K0
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

spot1101622334552K52K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 359K call contracts, 245K 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: QBTS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk