Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET

PBF max pain

Spot (delayed)$72.1
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$43
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 57 strikes carrying 19,936 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-40.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.8
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 17.80 USD, 24.7% of 72.10 spot.
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±24.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.70
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
How8,178 put contracts / 11,758 call contracts = 0.70 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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8K puts / 12K calls
Call wall$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
How35.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest call OI
Put wall$15
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
How15.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3076.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$321K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 7:54 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 expiration: (call gamma × call OI minus put gamma × put OI) × 100 × spot² × 1%, summed. Calls count as positive and puts as negative, a convention about who holds the other side, not a measurement.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $35

Event risk before this expiration: 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$77.5+7.5%16d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides44d
Fri, Jan 15$43-40.4%72d
Fri, Mar 19$70-2.9%135d
Fri, May 21one strike decides198d
Thu, Jun 17$70-2.9%225d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot433285479105130$70M$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 — 43 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot433304050751002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PBF open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot43304562.572.5851103K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3285479105130280%68%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 70.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 351834435577.5100+$52K−$52K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.04550.01020.08-0.04-0.16
0.80-0.0457.50.01150.09-0.04-0.19
0.77-0.05600.01280.10-0.05-0.23
0.73-0.0562.50.01390.11-0.05-0.27
0.69-0.06650.01500.11-0.06-0.31
0.64-0.0667.50.01580.12-0.06-0.35
0.60-0.06700.01640.12-0.06-0.39
0.56-0.0672.50.01680.13-0.06-0.43
0.52-0.06750.01710.13-0.06-0.48
0.48-0.0677.50.01710.13-0.06-0.52
0.44-0.06800.01690.13-0.06-0.56
0.40-0.0682.50.01660.12-0.06-0.59
0.37-0.06850.01610.12-0.06-0.63
0.34-0.0687.50.01550.12-0.06-0.66
0.30-0.06900.01490.11-0.06-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 57 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot10324255801105K0
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

spot3243647701007K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 52K call contracts, 38K 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.

Max pain, walls and gamma print only when an expiration holds at least 100 open contracts across 5 strikes, and max pain also needs to stay within 5% of spot when its single heaviest strike is removed. Below that the expiration reads as thin rather than printing a level one trade could move.

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: PBF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk