Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 1:46 AM ET

PAYP max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.48
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$15-3.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.81±31.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI5.2052 puts / 10 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3055.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

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, Oct 16$15-3.1%2d
Fri, Nov 20$15-3.1%37d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5+13.0%93d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5-19.3%184d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15101213151618$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot151012.51517.52828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PAYP 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

spot151012.51517.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot101213151618129%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 12.51012.51517.5+$701−$701
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
0.95-0.01100.02360.01-0.01-0.05
0.86-0.0112.50.06850.01-0.01-0.14
0.59-0.01150.14370.02-0.01-0.41
0.28-0.0117.50.11630.02-0.01-0.73

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

spot512.517.522.5305720
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.530572572
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 508 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: PAYP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk