Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 2:42 AM ET

QSI max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.63
Max pain · Fri, Oct 30$1-38.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.75±46.0% by Fri, Oct 30
Put/Call OI0.981K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$1.5largest call OI
Put wall$1largest put OI
IV30109.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $1.5

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$1-38.7%2d
Fri, Nov 6$1-38.7%9d
Fri, Nov 13$1-38.7%16d
Fri, Nov 20$1-38.7%23d
Fri, Nov 27$1.5-8.0%30d
Fri, Dec 4$1-38.7%37d
Fri, Dec 18$0.5-69.3%51d
Fri, Jan 15$1-38.7%79d
Fri, Apr 16$0.5-69.3%170d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1111122$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 — 1 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot10.511.52859859
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QSI open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 30.

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, Oct 30

spot10.511.52313313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spotflip 1.50.511.52+$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, Oct 30

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.010.50.04110.00-0.01-0.02
0.93-0.0110.21440.00-0.01-0.07
0.70-0.021.51.00000.00-0.02-0.30
0.26-0.0220.77130.00-0.02-0.74

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

spot0.511.522K0
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

spot0.51.52.551027K27K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 91K call contracts, 11K 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: QSI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk