Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 14, 11:21 AM ET

PACB max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.28
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$0.5-60.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.75±58.6% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.0110 puts / 745 calls
Call wall$2largest call OI
Put wall$1largest put OI
IV3083.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$429per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · 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 · 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, Sep 18$1-21.9%4d
Fri, Oct 16$1.5+17.2%32d
Fri, Dec 18$1.5+17.2%95d
Fri, Jan 15$1-21.9%123d
Fri, Mar 19$0.5-60.9%186d
Fri, Jan 21$1.5+17.2%494d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot0.5112334$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 — 0.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot0.50.511.5234392392
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PACB open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot0.50.511.523488
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot122334200%85%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 93.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot0.511.5234+$253$253
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.950.000.50.09740.000.00-0.07
0.81-0.0010.30790.00-0.00-0.22
0.60-0.001.50.43820.00-0.00-0.43
0.48-0.0020.39320.00-0.00-0.56
0.38-0.0030.30540.00-0.00-0.66
0.34-0.0040.25940.00-0.00-0.71

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

spot0.51.53514K0
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

spot0.51.535729K29K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 63K call contracts, 7K 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: PACB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk