Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:20 PM ET

PLMR max pain

Spot (delayed)$141.78
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$130-8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.7±9.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.3713 puts / 35 calls
Call wall$140largest call OI
Put wall$125largest put OI
IV3038.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$14Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $140

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$130-8.3%25d
Fri, Dec 18$145+2.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$145+2.3%81d
Fri, Apr 16$120-15.4%172d
Fri, May 21$80-43.6%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot13095106117128139150$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 — 130 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot130951051201301401501010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PLMR 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

spot1309510512013014015011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot95106117128139150103%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 14095105120130140150+$5K−$5K
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
0.96-0.041000.00270.03-0.04-0.04
0.95-0.051050.00360.04-0.05-0.05
0.94-0.061100.00490.05-0.06-0.06
0.88-0.071200.00910.08-0.07-0.12
0.84-0.091250.01220.10-0.09-0.16
0.78-0.101300.01630.12-0.10-0.22
0.69-0.111350.02080.14-0.11-0.31
0.58-0.111400.02470.15-0.11-0.42
0.45-0.111450.02620.16-0.11-0.55
0.33-0.101500.02440.14-0.10-0.68

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 11 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot55901251501752001080
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

spot5585115145175210117117
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 518 call contracts, 226 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: PLMR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk