Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:54 PM ET

QXO max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.48
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$10.5+0.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.75±16.7% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI2.281K puts / 499 calls
Call wall$13largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3070.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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$11+5.0%4d
Fri, Nov 6$11+5.0%11d
Fri, Nov 13$11+5.0%18d
Fri, Nov 20$12+14.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$10.5+0.2%32d
Fri, Dec 4$10-4.6%39d
Fri, Dec 18$11+5.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$13+24.0%81d
Fri, Feb 19$13+24.0%116d
Fri, Mar 19$13+24.0%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10.55811141720$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 — 10.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot10.558.510.512.514.516.5685685
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QXO 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

spot10.558.510.512.514.516.5100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot5811141720152%60%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spotflip 7.558.510.512.514.516.5+$12K−$12K
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
0.96-0.006.50.02850.00-0.00-0.04
0.92-0.017.50.05400.01-0.01-0.09
0.89-0.0180.07220.01-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.018.50.09420.01-0.01-0.16
0.79-0.0190.11880.01-0.01-0.22
0.72-0.019.50.14360.01-0.01-0.28
0.64-0.01100.16450.01-0.01-0.36
0.55-0.0110.50.17730.01-0.01-0.45
0.47-0.01110.17940.01-0.01-0.54
0.38-0.0111.50.17160.01-0.01-0.63
0.31-0.01120.15700.01-0.01-0.70
0.26-0.0112.50.13950.01-0.01-0.76
0.21-0.01130.12160.01-0.01-0.80
0.17-0.0113.50.10500.01-0.01-0.84
0.14-0.01140.09030.01-0.01-0.87

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot5810.51315.511K0
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

spot38.51317.52635106K106K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 526K call contracts, 176K 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: QXO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk