Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:20 AM ET

RICK max pain

Spot (delayed)$27.16
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$30+10.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.6±13.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.11942 puts / 846 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3051.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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, Nov 20$30+10.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$27.5+1.3%54d
Fri, Feb 19$30+10.5%117d
Fri, May 21$25-8.0%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30131824293540$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3012.517.522.527.532.537.5530530
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RICK 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

spot3012.517.522.527.532.537.51010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152025303540182%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 17.512.517.522.527.532.537.5+$16K−$16K
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
0.98-0.0112.50.00390.00-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01150.00700.01-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.0117.50.01280.01-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.02200.02340.01-0.02-0.08
0.85-0.0222.50.04350.02-0.02-0.15
0.72-0.03250.07780.03-0.03-0.28
0.48-0.0327.50.10630.03-0.03-0.51
0.26-0.02300.08390.02-0.02-0.74
0.15-0.0232.50.05280.02-0.02-0.85
0.09-0.01350.03390.01-0.01-0.91
0.06-0.0137.50.02310.01-0.01-0.94
0.05-0.01400.01660.01-0.01-0.96

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

spot12.517.5253035403480
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

spot12.52027.53542.5563563
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 1K 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: RICK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk