Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:56 AM ET

PNR max pain

Spot (delayed)$55.22
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$52.5-4.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.75±6.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.411K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$52.5largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3040.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$232Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $52.5

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$52.5-4.9%24d
Fri, Dec 18$55-0.4%52d
Fri, Jan 15$65+17.7%80d
Fri, Feb 19$60+8.7%115d
Fri, May 21$47.5-14.0%206d
Fri, Jan 21$55-0.4%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot52.535547392111130$19M$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 — 52.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot52.53547.56072.587.51001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PNR 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

spot52.53547.56072.587.5100236236
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3550658095110163%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 52.53547.56072.587.5100+$199K−$199K
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
0.98-0.0137.50.00400.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01400.00650.01-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.0142.50.01040.01-0.02-0.04
0.93-0.02450.01660.02-0.02-0.07
0.88-0.0347.50.02590.03-0.03-0.12
0.81-0.04500.03910.04-0.04-0.19
0.70-0.0452.50.05460.05-0.04-0.30
0.55-0.05550.06630.06-0.05-0.46
0.38-0.0457.50.06590.06-0.04-0.62
0.24-0.04600.05350.04-0.04-0.77
0.14-0.0362.50.03800.03-0.03-0.86
0.09-0.02650.02540.02-0.02-0.92
0.05-0.0167.50.01670.02-0.01-0.96
0.04-0.01700.01110.01-0.01-0.98
0.02-0.0172.50.00750.01-0.01-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 30 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot47.562.577.592.51151451K0
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

spot27.547.567.587.51151552K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 5K 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: PNR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk