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

TMC max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.42
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$2-17.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.45±18.4% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI0.33343 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$3largest call OI
Put wall$3largest put OI
IV3089.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$659per 1% move · flip ≈ $2

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$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

spot2123456$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 — 2 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot20.523456391391
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TMC open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 13.

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 13

spot20.5234561717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot123456318%92%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 93.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 20.523456+$616−$616
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 13

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.000.50.01160.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.0010.04450.00-0.00-0.02
0.82-0.0020.41450.00-0.00-0.18
0.51-0.012.50.74690.00-0.01-0.49
0.25-0.0130.51580.00-0.01-0.75
0.15-0.003.50.31680.00-0.00-0.86
0.10-0.0040.21040.00-0.00-0.91
0.07-0.004.50.14990.00-0.00-0.94
0.05-0.0050.11240.00-0.00-0.95
0.04-0.005.50.08770.00-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.0060.07050.00-0.00-0.97

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

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