Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:14 AM ET

SYM max pain

Spot (delayed)$39.29
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$42.5+8.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.6±14.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.8910K puts / 11K calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$42.5largest put OI
IV3074.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$177Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$41+4.4%4d
Fri, Nov 6$43+9.4%11d
Fri, Nov 13$40+1.8%18d
Fri, Nov 20$42.5+8.2%25d
Fri, Nov 27$39-0.7%32d
Fri, Dec 4$35-10.9%39d
Fri, Dec 18$45+14.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$40+1.8%81d
Fri, Feb 19$40+1.8%116d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.52036526884100$53M$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot42.5203438.54349705K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SYM 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

spot42.5203438.54349706565
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2036526884100194%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 64.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 25203438.5434970+$264K−$264K
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
0.71-0.05360.04490.04-0.05-0.29
0.69-0.0536.50.04690.04-0.05-0.31
0.67-0.05370.04860.04-0.05-0.34
0.64-0.0537.50.05010.04-0.05-0.36
0.61-0.05380.05140.04-0.05-0.39
0.59-0.0538.50.05240.04-0.05-0.42
0.56-0.05390.05310.04-0.05-0.44
0.53-0.0539.50.05350.04-0.05-0.47
0.51-0.05400.05360.04-0.05-0.50
0.48-0.0540.50.05350.04-0.05-0.52
0.46-0.05410.05310.04-0.05-0.55
0.43-0.0541.50.05250.04-0.05-0.57
0.41-0.05420.05160.04-0.05-0.60
0.38-0.0542.50.05060.04-0.05-0.62
0.36-0.05430.04940.04-0.05-0.64

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 53 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot32.538414447523760
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

spot7.53238.54552.5805K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 44K call contracts, 29K 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: SYM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk