Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:30 AM ET

ZG max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.17
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$35+2.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.83±14.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.371K puts / 947 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3064.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 1% move

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+2.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$35+2.4%53d
Fri, Feb 19$35+2.4%116d
Fri, May 21$30-12.2%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35182737465665$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3517.522.530405060466466
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZG 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

spot3517.522.5304050602828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot182737465665226%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot17.522.530405060+$22K−$22K
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
0.98-0.0117.50.00420.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01200.00690.01-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.0222.50.01130.01-0.02-0.06
0.91-0.02250.01830.01-0.02-0.09
0.78-0.04300.04380.03-0.04-0.23
0.49-0.04350.06480.04-0.04-0.52
0.25-0.04400.04640.03-0.04-0.76
0.15-0.03450.02880.02-0.03-0.86
0.10-0.03500.01910.02-0.03-0.91
0.07-0.02550.01360.01-0.03-0.94
0.06-0.02600.01020.01-0.02-0.96
0.04-0.02650.00800.01-0.02-0.97

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

spot15254565851K0
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

spot15254565851K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 4K 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: ZG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk