Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:23 AM ET

WDFC max pain

Spot (delayed)$212.71
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$195-8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.25±6.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.37347 puts / 938 calls
Call wall$230largest call OI
Put wall$170largest put OI
IV3029.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$438Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $210

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$195-8.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$200-6.0%54d
Fri, Feb 19$185-13.0%117d
Fri, May 21$195-8.3%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot195120170220270320370$13M$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 — 195 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot195120155185230290370545545
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WDFC 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

spot1951201551852302903701414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot120170220270320370111%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 210130155180210260+$366K−$366K
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
0.98-0.021700.00230.03-0.02-0.02
0.97-0.031750.00330.04-0.03-0.03
0.95-0.041800.00470.06-0.04-0.05
0.92-0.051850.00670.09-0.05-0.07
0.89-0.071900.00930.11-0.07-0.11
0.84-0.091950.01240.14-0.09-0.16
0.77-0.102000.01600.18-0.10-0.23
0.58-0.122100.02210.23-0.12-0.42
0.35-0.112200.02180.22-0.11-0.65
0.17-0.082300.01520.15-0.08-0.83
0.07-0.042400.00810.08-0.04-0.93
0.03-0.022500.00370.04-0.02-0.97
0.01-0.012600.00160.02-0.01-0.99
0.01-0.002700.00070.01-0.00-1.00
0.00-0.002800.00030.000.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 31 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1401852102502903303K0
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

spot1101401702002603203K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 637 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: WDFC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk