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Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Jul 31, 9:12 PM ET

RUN max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.8
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$12+22.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.88±39.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.209K puts / 47K calls
Call wall$13largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3097.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$213Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $13

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Aug 7$11+12.2%6d
Fri, Aug 14$11.5+17.3%13d
Fri, Aug 21$13+32.7%20d
Fri, Aug 28$12+22.4%27d
Fri, Sep 4$12+22.4%34d
Fri, Sep 11$13+32.7%41d
Fri, Sep 18$11+12.2%48d
Fri, Nov 20$12+22.4%111d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot123814192530$63M$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 — 12 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot12391419242918K18K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RUN 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

spot1239141924298K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3814192530149%81%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 89.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 133914192429+$130K$130K
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
0.98-0.0030.00570.00-0.00-0.01
0.94-0.0050.02310.01-0.00-0.06
0.89-0.0060.03670.01-0.00-0.11
0.83-0.0170.05130.01-0.01-0.17
0.75-0.0180.06420.02-0.01-0.25
0.67-0.0190.07370.02-0.01-0.33
0.59-0.01100.07930.02-0.01-0.41
0.52-0.01110.08120.02-0.01-0.49
0.45-0.01120.08040.02-0.01-0.56
0.39-0.01130.07750.02-0.01-0.62
0.34-0.01140.07330.02-0.01-0.67
0.29-0.01150.06840.02-0.01-0.72
0.25-0.01160.06310.02-0.01-0.76
0.22-0.01170.05790.02-0.01-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.511.515.5212920K0
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

spot17.511.515.5202863K63K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 392K call contracts, 126K 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: RUN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk