Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:16 AM ET

SQQQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$39.56
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$33-16.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.6±16.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.125K puts / 39K calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3075.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.2Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $26

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$35-11.5%5d
Fri, Nov 6$35-11.5%12d
Fri, Nov 13$37-6.5%19d
Fri, Nov 20$33-16.6%26d
Fri, Nov 27$35-11.5%33d
Fri, Dec 4$38.5-2.7%40d
Fri, Dec 18$35-11.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$40+1.1%82d
Fri, Mar 19$35-11.5%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot33182533404855$61M$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 — 33 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot33182934.538.542.5499K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SQQQ 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

spot33182934.538.542.549267267
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot202734414855184%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 75.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 26182934.538.542.549+$614K−$614K
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
0.73-0.04360.04360.04-0.04-0.27
0.70-0.0536.50.04490.04-0.05-0.29
0.68-0.05370.04600.04-0.05-0.32
0.65-0.0537.50.04670.04-0.05-0.35
0.63-0.05380.04720.04-0.05-0.37
0.60-0.0638.50.04740.04-0.06-0.40
0.58-0.06390.04740.04-0.06-0.42
0.55-0.0639.50.04720.04-0.06-0.45
0.53-0.06400.04690.04-0.06-0.47
0.51-0.0640.50.04640.04-0.06-0.49
0.49-0.06410.04580.04-0.06-0.51
0.47-0.0641.50.04510.04-0.06-0.53
0.45-0.06420.04430.04-0.06-0.55
0.43-0.0642.50.04350.04-0.06-0.57
0.41-0.06430.04260.04-0.06-0.59

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1829.53438.54347.57K0
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

spot18323742519028K28K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 243K call contracts, 132K 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: SQQQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk