Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:15 AM ET

VERA max pain

Spot (delayed)$27.99
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$25-10.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.63±16.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.03148 puts / 4K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3062.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$138Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$25-10.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$30+7.2%54d
Fri, Jan 15$35+25.0%82d
Fri, Mar 19$20-28.5%145d
Thu, Jun 17$35+25.0%235d
Fri, Jan 21$25-10.7%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25182431374450$6M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2517.52535453K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VERA 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

spot2517.52535453838
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot202632384450217%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2017.5253545+$113K−$113K
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
0.97-0.0117.50.00920.01-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.01200.01790.01-0.01-0.06
0.78-0.03250.05710.02-0.03-0.23
0.40-0.03300.08030.03-0.04-0.61
0.16-0.02350.04480.02-0.03-0.87
0.07-0.01400.02230.01-0.01-0.96
0.04-0.01450.01220.01-0.01-0.99
0.02-0.01500.00730.00-0.00-0.99

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

spot12.520304560754K0
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

spot12.5203045607510K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K call contracts, 16K 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: VERA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk