Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:32 AM ET

TMC max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.42
Max pain · Fri, Nov 6$3+24.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.34±14.0% by Fri, Nov 6
Put/Call OI0.36386 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$3.5largest call OI
Put wall$3.5largest put OI
IV3089.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$3+24.0%4d
Fri, Nov 6$3+24.0%11d
Fri, Nov 13$2-17.4%18d
Fri, Nov 20$4+65.3%25d
Fri, Nov 27$2.5+3.3%32d
Fri, Dec 4$3.5+44.6%39d
Fri, Dec 18$4+65.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5+3.3%81d
Fri, Feb 19$4+65.3%116d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3123467$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 — 3 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot30.523.557522522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TMC open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 6.

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 6

spot30.523.5575656
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot123456339%78%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 87.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spotflip 20.523456+$545−$545
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 6

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.000.50.01630.00-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.0010.05440.00-0.00-0.03
0.93-0.011.50.15000.00-0.01-0.07
0.82-0.0120.42560.00-0.01-0.18
0.48-0.012.50.91420.00-0.01-0.52
0.21-0.0130.52690.00-0.01-0.79
0.12-0.013.50.29890.00-0.01-0.88
0.08-0.0040.19650.00-0.00-0.91
0.06-0.004.50.14180.00-0.00-0.94
0.05-0.0050.10880.00-0.00-0.95
0.04-0.005.50.08710.00-0.00-0.96
0.04-0.0060.07190.00-0.00-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot0.523.5575K0
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

spot0.52.54.56.58.51272K72K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 381K call contracts, 51K 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: TMC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk