Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:36 AM ET

PPH max pain

Spot (delayed)$114.93
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$114-0.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.48±5.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI2.08173 puts / 83 calls
Call wall$108largest call OI
Put wall$110largest put OI
IV3022.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$49Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $108

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$114-0.8%26d
Fri, Dec 18$100-13.0%54d
Fri, Jan 15$92-20.0%82d
Fri, Apr 16$103-10.4%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot114101105109113117121$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 — 114 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot114101105109113118102102
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PPH 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

spot11410110510911311888
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot10110510911311712141%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 108101105109113118+$52K−$52K
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
0.83-0.041080.03000.08-0.04-0.17
0.80-0.041090.03380.09-0.04-0.20
0.77-0.041100.03780.10-0.04-0.24
0.73-0.051110.04200.11-0.05-0.27
0.69-0.051120.04600.11-0.05-0.32
0.65-0.051130.04970.12-0.05-0.36
0.60-0.051140.05280.12-0.05-0.41
0.54-0.051150.05480.13-0.05-0.47
0.49-0.051160.05560.13-0.05-0.53
0.38-0.051180.05330.12-0.05-0.64
0.33-0.051190.05040.12-0.05-0.69
0.29-0.041200.04680.11-0.05-0.74
0.25-0.041210.04280.10-0.04-0.78

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot91101109115122135520
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

spot91100109118127160114114
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 611 call contracts, 287 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: PPH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk