Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 12:23 AM ET

VONG max pain

Spot (delayed)$123.16
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$127+3.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.05±5.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.063 puts / 49 calls
Call wall$135largest call OI
Put wall$120largest put OI
IV3023.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$21Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $127

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$127+3.1%26d
Fri, Feb 19$120-2.6%117d
Fri, May 21$127+3.1%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot127120124128132136140$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 — 127 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1271201271301331351414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VONG 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

spot12712012713013313511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot12012412813213614027%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 127120127130133135+$7K−$7K
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
0.67-0.061200.04030.12-0.06-0.34
0.44-0.061250.04900.14-0.06-0.57
0.35-0.051270.04680.13-0.05-0.67
0.30-0.051280.04440.12-0.05-0.71
0.23-0.041300.03800.10-0.04-0.80
0.19-0.041310.03440.10-0.04-0.83
0.14-0.031330.02750.08-0.04-0.89
0.12-0.031340.02430.07-0.03-0.91
0.10-0.031350.02140.06-0.03-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 9 strikes around the money — all 10 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot120128131133135150
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

spot801121201281361441515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 56 call contracts, 3 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: VONG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk