Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:18 AM ET

VFF max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.58
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$3+16.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.6±23.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.88637 puts / 338 calls
Call wall$3largest call OI
Put wall$3largest put OI
IV3060.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$2Kper 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, Nov 20$3+16.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$3+16.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$2-22.5%82d
Fri, Mar 19$3+16.3%145d
Thu, Jun 17$2-22.5%235d
Fri, Jan 21$2-22.5%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3123345$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 20

spot312345636636
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VFF 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

spot31234511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 22345+$2K−$2K
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
0.97-0.0010.03950.00-0.00-0.03
0.87-0.0020.31360.00-0.00-0.13
0.25-0.0030.64950.00-0.00-0.75
0.09-0.0040.21160.00-0.00-0.92
0.05-0.0050.11000.00-0.00-0.96

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

spot123458K0
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

spot12345620K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 48K call contracts, 11K 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: VFF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk