Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 11:19 PM ET

UAMY max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.29
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$3-8.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.8±24.3% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI0.18311 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$3.5largest call OI
Put wall$4largest put OI
IV3090.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 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, Oct 23$3.5+6.4%2d
Fri, Oct 30$3-8.8%9d
Fri, Nov 6$3-8.8%16d
Fri, Nov 13$3-8.8%23d
Fri, Nov 20$5+52.0%30d
Fri, Nov 27$3-8.8%37d
Fri, Dec 18$2.5-24.0%58d
Fri, Jan 15$5+52.0%86d
Fri, Feb 19$5+52.0%121d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3123456$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 27

spot312.53.54.55.5917917
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)UAMY open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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 27

spot312.53.54.55.5742742
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot233456132%66%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 91.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot12.53.54.55.5+$4K−$4K
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 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0010.02640.00-0.00-0.03
0.90-0.0020.10750.00-0.00-0.10
0.82-0.002.50.19940.00-0.00-0.18
0.69-0.0130.33550.00-0.01-0.31
0.49-0.013.50.41140.00-0.01-0.51
0.33-0.0140.35360.00-0.01-0.67
0.23-0.014.50.27350.00-0.00-0.77
0.18-0.0050.21260.00-0.00-0.82
0.14-0.005.50.16940.00-0.00-0.86

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

spot0.52.54.56.58.53K0
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

spot0.535.5812.52538K38K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 175K call contracts, 32K 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: UAMY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk