Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 3:28 AM ET

REFR max pain

Spot (delayed)$0.47
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$0.5+5.4% vs spot
Put/Call OI0.0214 puts / 569 calls
Call wall$2.5largest call OI
Put wall$1largest put OI
IV3043.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$78per 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$0.5+5.4%29d
Fri, Dec 18$2.5+426.8%57d
Fri, Mar 19$2.5+426.8%148d
Thu, Jun 17$1+110.7%238d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot0.5123568$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 — 0.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot0.50.511.52.557.5529529
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)REFR 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

spot0.50.511.52.557.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot111223488%183%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 488.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot0.512.5+$59−$59
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
0.470.000.56.50890.000.00-0.56
0.070.0010.63670.000.00-0.96
0.040.001.50.32480.000.00-0.98
0.030.002.50.17550.000.00-1.00
0.020.0050.09340.000.00-1.00
0.010.007.50.0687—0.00-1.00

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

spot0.52.557.51K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.51K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 36 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: REFR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk