Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 1:57 PM ET

VFC max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.23
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$14-13.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.63±10.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.2110K puts / 46K calls
Call wall$22largest call OI
Put wall$17largest put OI
IV3055.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$766Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $14

Event risk before this expiration: 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$17+4.7%2d
Fri, Nov 6$15.5-4.5%9d
Fri, Nov 13$15.5-4.5%16d
Fri, Nov 20$14-13.7%23d
Fri, Nov 27$16-1.4%30d
Fri, Dec 4$15.5-4.5%37d
Fri, Dec 18$16-1.4%51d
Fri, Jan 15$15-7.6%79d
Fri, Feb 19$16-1.4%114d
Fri, Mar 19$18+10.9%142d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1481319243035$72M$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 — 14 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot14812.51517.5202513K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VFC 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

spot14812.51517.520252121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot81319243035192%46%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 14812.51517.52025+$252K−$252K
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
0.92-0.0112.50.04590.01-0.01-0.08
0.90-0.01130.05720.01-0.01-0.10
0.88-0.0113.50.07190.01-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01140.09100.01-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.0114.50.11470.01-0.01-0.20
0.74-0.02150.14120.01-0.02-0.26
0.67-0.0215.50.16600.01-0.02-0.34
0.58-0.02160.18290.02-0.02-0.42
0.49-0.0216.50.18700.02-0.02-0.52
0.40-0.02170.17850.02-0.02-0.60
0.32-0.0217.50.16160.01-0.02-0.68
0.26-0.02180.14150.01-0.02-0.74
0.22-0.0118.50.12170.01-0.01-0.79
0.18-0.01190.10410.01-0.01-0.83
0.15-0.0119.50.08900.01-0.01-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot811141720232K0
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

spot2.59.514.519.524.532133K133K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 290K call contracts, 306K 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: VFC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk