Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 10:30 PM ET

PAYC max pain

Spot (delayed)$261.78
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$240-8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$56.35±21.5% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.42789 puts / 555 calls
Call wall$240largest call OI
Put wall$240largest put OI
IV3054.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$45Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $100

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, Nov 20$210-19.8%30d
Fri, Dec 18$195-25.5%58d
Fri, Jan 15$175-33.1%86d
Fri, Feb 19$240-8.3%121d
Fri, May 21$240-8.3%212d
Fri, Dec 17$200-23.6%422d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot24065122179236293350$12M$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 — 240 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot24065120155190250340320320
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PAYC 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

spot2406512015519025034033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot65122179236293350131%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 10065120150185230300+$47K−$47K
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
0.89-0.041950.00260.28-0.06-0.11
0.87-0.042000.00290.31-0.06-0.13
0.83-0.062100.00340.38-0.07-0.17
0.79-0.072200.00400.43-0.09-0.21
0.74-0.092300.00450.49-0.10-0.26
0.69-0.102400.00490.53-0.10-0.32
0.63-0.102500.00520.56-0.11-0.37
0.58-0.112600.00550.59-0.11-0.43
0.53-0.112700.00560.60-0.11-0.48
0.42-0.112900.00560.59-0.11-0.59
0.37-0.103000.00540.57-0.10-0.65
0.28-0.093200.00480.51-0.09-0.74
0.24-0.093300.00450.47-0.08-0.78
0.21-0.083400.00420.43-0.07-0.82
0.18-0.073500.00380.40-0.06-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 37 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot651051451852503304340
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

spot60100140180240320828828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 10K 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: PAYC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk