Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:32 AM ET

XOVR max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.75
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$18-13.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.88±13.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.0472 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$22largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3028.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$82Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$19-8.4%5d
Fri, Nov 6$21+1.2%12d
Fri, Nov 13$21+1.2%19d
Fri, Nov 20$19-8.4%26d
Fri, Nov 27$16.5-20.5%33d
Fri, Dec 18$21+1.2%54d
Fri, Feb 19$18-13.3%117d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot18111519232731$2M$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 — 18 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot181116202428678678
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XOVR open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot1811162024282020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot11151923273162%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 171116202428+$33K−$33K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00140.01960.01-0.00-0.06
0.92-0.00150.02660.02-0.00-0.07
0.90-0.00160.03620.02-0.00-0.10
0.86-0.00170.04950.03-0.00-0.14
0.81-0.00180.06690.03-0.00-0.19
0.74-0.01190.08760.04-0.01-0.26
0.64-0.01200.10660.04-0.01-0.36
0.53-0.01210.11580.05-0.01-0.48
0.42-0.01220.11210.05-0.01-0.59
0.33-0.01230.09950.04-0.01-0.69
0.26-0.01240.08480.04-0.01-0.76
0.21-0.01250.07110.03-0.01-0.81
0.17-0.00260.05950.03-0.01-0.86
0.14-0.00270.04990.03-0.01-0.89
0.11-0.00280.04210.02-0.00-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1920.521.522.5255900
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

spot8151922.526327K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 31K call contracts, 12K 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: XOVR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk