Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:23 PM ET

SRRK max pain

Spot (delayed)$41.49
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$45+8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.38±13.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.84763 puts / 911 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3059.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$14Kper 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$45+8.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$40-3.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$45+8.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$45+8.5%172d
Fri, Jan 21$50+20.5%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45303642485460$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot4530405060446446
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SRRK 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

spot453040506066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot303642485460128%46%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot30405060+$28K−$28K
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
0.94-0.02300.01290.01-0.02-0.06
0.84-0.04350.03030.03-0.04-0.16
0.63-0.05400.05350.04-0.05-0.38
0.35-0.05450.05390.04-0.05-0.65
0.17-0.03500.03480.03-0.03-0.84
0.08-0.02550.01950.02-0.02-0.93
0.04-0.01600.01080.01-0.01-0.97

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

spot17.525405570852K0
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

spot1522.5355065802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 5K 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: SRRK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk