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

PCVX max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.43
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$65+7.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$27.6±45.7% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI1.07606 puts / 566 calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$65largest put OI
IV3053.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

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

spot6525476991113135$3M$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot652550658095135378378
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PCVX open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot65255065809513511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot2547699111313566%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 302550658095135+$15K−$15K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96—250.00220.07-0.00-0.05
0.93-0.00300.00330.09-0.01-0.07
0.82-0.01450.00710.18-0.01-0.20
0.77-0.01500.00820.21-0.01-0.25
0.72-0.01550.00920.23-0.01-0.30
0.67-0.01600.01000.25-0.01-0.36
0.62-0.01650.01060.26-0.01-0.41
0.57-0.01700.01090.27-0.01-0.47
0.52-0.01750.01110.27-0.01-0.52
0.48-0.01800.01110.27-0.01-0.57
0.44-0.01850.01100.27-0.01-0.62
0.40-0.01900.01080.26-0.01-0.67
0.36-0.01950.01050.25-0.01-0.71

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 16 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