Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:36 PM ET

SXI max pain

Spot (delayed)$240.47
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$270+12.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23.65±9.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.64346 puts / 540 calls
Call wall$420largest call OI
Put wall$270largest put OI
IV3041.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$43Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $165

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$270+12.3%25d
Fri, Feb 19$320+33.1%116d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot270125206287368449530$10M$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 — 270 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot270125175250310370460250250
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SXI 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

spot2701251752503103704602020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot125206287368449530162%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 44.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 165125180260320380470+$17K−$17K
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
0.98-0.031650.00100.03-0.03-0.02
0.98-0.041700.00120.04-0.04-0.02
0.97-0.041750.00150.04-0.04-0.03
0.97-0.051800.00180.05-0.05-0.03
0.95-0.071900.00290.07-0.07-0.05
0.93-0.081950.00360.09-0.08-0.07
0.92-0.092000.00450.10-0.09-0.08
0.54-0.202400.01430.27-0.20-0.47
0.40-0.192500.01380.26-0.20-0.61
0.28-0.172600.01180.23-0.17-0.72
0.20-0.142700.00930.18-0.14-0.81
0.14-0.122800.00700.14-0.12-0.87
0.09-0.092900.00520.11-0.10-0.92
0.07-0.073000.00380.09-0.08-0.94
0.05-0.063100.00280.07-0.07-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1251802703303905102500
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

spot125170230320410500250250
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 652 call contracts, 409 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: SXI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk