Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 11:59 PM ET

POWL max pain

Spot (delayed)$155.75
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$140-10.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$36.6±23.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.385K puts / 13K calls
Call wall$130largest call OI
Put wall$200largest put OI
IV3084.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.1Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $130

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$180+15.6%24d
Fri, Dec 18$140-10.1%52d
Fri, Feb 19$200+28.4%115d
Fri, May 21$170+9.1%206d
Fri, Aug 20$120-23.0%297d
Fri, Dec 17$170+9.1%416d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot14055136217298379460$328M$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 — 140 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot14055126.67160193.332503002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)POWL open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot14055126.67160193.3325030088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot55136217298379460165%68%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 77.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 13055126.67160193.33250300+$329K−$329K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.76-0.14133.330.00650.19-0.14-0.24
0.75-0.141350.00670.19-0.14-0.25
0.71-0.151400.00730.20-0.15-0.29
0.68-0.15143.330.00770.21-0.15-0.32
0.65-0.15146.670.00800.22-0.16-0.35
0.63-0.161500.00830.23-0.16-0.38
0.60-0.16153.330.00850.23-0.16-0.40
0.58-0.161550.00860.23-0.16-0.42
0.54-0.161600.00890.24-0.17-0.46
0.51-0.17163.330.00890.24-0.17-0.49
0.48-0.16166.670.00900.24-0.16-0.52
0.45-0.161700.00890.24-0.16-0.55
0.42-0.16173.330.00890.23-0.16-0.58
0.41-0.161750.00880.23-0.16-0.59
0.37-0.151800.00860.23-0.15-0.63

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot55135170203.33266.673602K0
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

spot90135170213.332703704K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 27K call contracts, 8K 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: POWL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk