Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 18, 4:22 AM ET

WAB max pain

Spot (delayed)$286.82
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$290+1.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.65±6.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.8196 puts / 118 calls
Call wall$300largest call OI
Put wall$270largest put OI
IV3028.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$23Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $240

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$290+1.1%33d
Fri, Dec 18$310+8.1%61d
Fri, Jan 15$250-12.8%89d
Fri, Feb 19$165-42.5%124d
Fri, Apr 16$300+4.6%180d
Fri, May 21$270-5.9%215d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot290190220250280310340$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 — 290 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2901902502702903103405151
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WAB 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

spot29019025027029031034066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot19022025028031034044%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 27.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 240190250270290310340+$55K−$55K
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
0.99-0.021900.00060.03-0.02-0.01
0.93-0.072400.00360.12-0.07-0.07
0.90-0.092500.00540.16-0.09-0.10
0.84-0.102600.00800.21-0.10-0.16
0.76-0.122700.01130.28-0.12-0.24
0.64-0.142800.01490.33-0.14-0.37
0.48-0.142900.01660.35-0.14-0.53
0.32-0.123000.01500.32-0.12-0.69
0.20-0.103100.01150.25-0.10-0.81
0.13-0.083200.00810.19-0.08-0.89
0.06-0.043400.00380.10-0.05-0.96

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

spot1651952402903403903020
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

spot150180220280340400387387
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 724 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: WAB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk