Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 17, 10:48 PM ET

PHM max pain

Spot (delayed)$128.49
Max pain · Fri, Sep 25$120-6.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.3±8.8% by Fri, Sep 25
Put/Call OI2.7511 puts / 4 calls
Call wall$120largest call OI
Put wall$120largest put OI
IV3033.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$987per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$130+1.2%2d
Fri, Aug 28$135+5.1%9d
Fri, Sep 4$130+1.2%16d
Fri, Sep 11$128-0.4%23d
Fri, Sep 18$125-2.7%30d
Fri, Sep 25$120-6.6%37d
Fri, Oct 16$135+5.1%58d
Fri, Nov 20$135+5.1%93d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot120105110115121126131$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 25

spot12010512012813013166
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PHM open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 25.

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, Sep 25

spot12010512012813013144
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 25

spot10511011512112613155%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 25

spot105120128130131+$2K$2K
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, Sep 25

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.031050.00690.05-0.03-0.07
0.75-0.061200.02140.13-0.06-0.25
0.55-0.071280.02750.17-0.07-0.46
0.49-0.071300.02770.17-0.07-0.51
0.47-0.071310.02760.17-0.07-0.54

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

spot1101211281341401604280
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

spot501051201311421752K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K call contracts, 13K 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: PHM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk