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

PCVX max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.43
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$50-17.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.05±31.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.2280 puts / 368 calls
Call wall$80largest call OI
Put wall$70largest put OI
IV3053.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$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

spot5030517293114135$2M$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot503045607590120111111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PCVX open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot5030456075901201010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot30517293114135105%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 503045607590120+$6K−$6K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.01300.00340.05-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.01350.00500.06-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01400.00720.08-0.02-0.12
0.84-0.02450.00980.11-0.02-0.17
0.77-0.02500.01250.13-0.02-0.24
0.69-0.02550.01510.15-0.02-0.32
0.61-0.03600.01680.16-0.03-0.40
0.53-0.03650.01760.17-0.03-0.49
0.45-0.03700.01740.17-0.03-0.57
0.38-0.03750.01660.16-0.03-0.65
0.32-0.02800.01530.15-0.03-0.71
0.28-0.02850.01400.14-0.02-0.76
0.24-0.02900.01260.13-0.02-0.80
0.21-0.02950.01140.12-0.02-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. 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