Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:14 AM ET

PCVX max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.43
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$60-0.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.65±12.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.762K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3053.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$69Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $55

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$60-0.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$55-9.0%54d
Fri, Jan 15$65+7.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$50-17.3%173d
Fri, Jul 16$50-17.3%264d
Fri, Jan 21$65+7.6%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot6030517293114135$20M$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot6030456075902K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PCVX 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

spot6030456075907373
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot30517293114135193%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 553045607590+$228K−$228K
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
0.99-0.01300.00110.00-0.01-0.01
0.99-0.01350.00230.01-0.01-0.01
0.97-0.02400.00480.01-0.02-0.03
0.94-0.03450.00960.02-0.03-0.06
0.88-0.04500.01860.03-0.04-0.12
0.76-0.06550.03220.05-0.06-0.25
0.56-0.06600.04330.07-0.07-0.44
0.35-0.06650.04090.06-0.06-0.65
0.20-0.05700.02990.05-0.05-0.81
0.12-0.04750.01970.03-0.04-0.89
0.07-0.03800.01290.02-0.03-0.94
0.05-0.02850.00860.02-0.02-0.97
0.03-0.01900.00590.01-0.01-0.98
0.00-0.001350.00050.00—-1.00

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

spot22.53550658010018K0
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

spot22.540608010012022K22K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41K call contracts, 54K 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: PCVX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk