Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 22, 5:47 AM ET

XE max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.45
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$15-8.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.7±28.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.782K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3079.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 25$16.5+0.3%3d
Fri, Oct 2$17+3.3%10d
Fri, Oct 9$17.5+6.4%17d
Fri, Oct 16$17.5+6.4%24d
Fri, Oct 23$16-2.7%31d
Fri, Oct 30$16.5+0.3%38d
Fri, Nov 20$15-8.8%59d
Fri, Dec 18$15-8.8%87d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1581319243035$4M$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot157.512.517.522.5302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XE 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

spot157.512.517.522.5304949
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot81319243035137%78%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 85.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 107.512.517.522.530+$18K$18K
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
0.96-0.017.50.01090.01-0.01-0.04
0.91-0.01100.02330.01-0.01-0.09
0.81-0.0112.50.04420.02-0.01-0.18
0.66-0.02150.06480.02-0.02-0.34
0.49-0.0217.50.06950.03-0.02-0.51
0.35-0.02200.06190.03-0.02-0.64
0.26-0.0222.50.05140.02-0.02-0.74
0.20-0.01250.04170.02-0.01-0.80
0.12-0.01300.02760.01-0.01-0.88
0.08-0.01350.01890.01-0.01-0.93

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

spot101517.52024353K0
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

spot2.51216.52125.53024K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 66K call contracts, 52K 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: XE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk