Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:16 AM ET

VRSK max pain

Spot (delayed)$195.88
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$180-8.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.65±9.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.23114 puts / 504 calls
Call wall$200largest call OI
Put wall$160largest put OI
IV3041.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$254Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $195

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$180-8.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$180-8.1%53d
Fri, Mar 19$175-10.7%144d
Thu, Jun 17$165-15.8%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot180140158176194212230$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 — 180 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot180140155170185200230145145
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VRSK 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

spot180140155170185200230181181
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot14015817619421223083%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 195140155170185200230+$95K−$95K
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
0.92-0.071600.00490.08-0.07-0.08
0.90-0.091650.00630.10-0.09-0.10
0.86-0.101700.00800.12-0.10-0.14
0.82-0.121750.01000.14-0.12-0.18
0.77-0.141800.01210.17-0.14-0.23
0.70-0.151850.01420.19-0.15-0.30
0.63-0.161900.01600.20-0.16-0.37
0.54-0.161950.01710.21-0.17-0.46
0.46-0.162000.01730.21-0.16-0.54
0.30-0.142100.01510.19-0.14-0.70
0.19-0.112200.01130.15-0.12-0.81
0.12-0.092300.00790.11-0.09-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1101501701902202603840
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

spot90120150180220280384384
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 951 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: VRSK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk