Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 15, 3:38 AM ET

SKWD max pain

Spot (delayed)$59.35
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$55-7.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.9±9.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.042 puts / 48 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3034.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60

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 16$55-7.3%1d
Fri, Nov 20$55-7.3%36d
Fri, Jan 15$50-15.8%92d
Fri, Apr 16$45-24.2%183d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55555759616365$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot555560654444
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SKWD 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

spot555560654545
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 60556065+$10K−$10K
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
0.74-0.03550.04200.06-0.03-0.26
0.48-0.04600.06190.07-0.03-0.52
0.23-0.03650.04400.06-0.03-0.76

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

spot25405060705870
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

spot22.535506580591591
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 317 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: SKWD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk