Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:22 AM ET

WSBC max pain

Spot (delayed)$39.05
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$35-10.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.13±5.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.85111 puts / 131 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3028.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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$35-10.4%26d
Fri, Feb 19$35-10.4%117d
Fri, May 21$35-10.4%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35252933374145$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3525303540457272
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WSBC 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

spot35253035404511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot25293337414592%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 352530354045+$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
0.98-0.01250.00580.01-0.01-0.02
0.95-0.01300.01530.01-0.01-0.05
0.86-0.02350.05180.02-0.02-0.14
0.41-0.02400.12450.04-0.02-0.59
0.14-0.02450.04720.03-0.02-0.87

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

spot3035404550552300
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

spot17.522.530405060230230
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 400 call contracts, 134 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: WSBC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk