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

PLMR max pain

Spot (delayed)$141.78
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$120-15.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$27.9±19.7% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.6418 puts / 28 calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$75largest put OI
IV3038.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $150

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$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

spot1207095120145170195$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, Apr 16

spot120709012014016519555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PLMR 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

spot120709012014016519511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot709512014517019570%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 1507090120140165195+$1K−$1K
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
0.90-0.021000.00370.17-0.02-0.10
0.85-0.031100.00540.23-0.03-0.15
0.82-0.031150.00630.25-0.03-0.18
0.78-0.031200.00730.28-0.03-0.21
0.74-0.031250.00830.31-0.04-0.26
0.70-0.041300.00930.34-0.04-0.30
0.65-0.041350.01020.36-0.04-0.35
0.59-0.041400.01090.38-0.04-0.41
0.54-0.041450.01140.39-0.04-0.47
0.48-0.041500.01170.39-0.04-0.53
0.37-0.041600.01140.37-0.04-0.65
0.32-0.031650.01090.35-0.04-0.71
0.27-0.031700.01020.33-0.03-0.76
0.19-0.021800.00850.27-0.03-0.85
0.13-0.021900.00670.21-0.02-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 21 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