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

PPH max pain

Spot (delayed)$114.93
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$92-20.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.3±9.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.2561 puts / 242 calls
Call wall$91largest call OI
Put wall$96largest put OI
IV3022.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$37Kper 1% move

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$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

spot9291100109117126135$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 — 92 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot9291971031081141255252
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PPH open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot92919710310811412511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot9110010911712613542%16%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 23.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot9197103108114125+$14K−$14K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.78-0.031060.02110.16-0.03-0.23
0.76-0.031070.02260.17-0.03-0.24
0.74-0.031080.02410.18-0.03-0.27
0.69-0.031100.02730.19-0.03-0.31
0.67-0.031110.02880.20-0.03-0.34
0.64-0.031120.03010.21-0.03-0.37
0.61-0.031130.03140.21-0.03-0.40
0.58-0.031140.03240.21-0.03-0.43
0.45-0.031180.03340.22-0.03-0.56
0.35-0.031210.03110.20-0.03-0.66
0.33-0.031220.02990.20-0.03-0.69
0.30-0.031230.02860.19-0.03-0.71
0.26-0.021250.02580.18-0.03-0.76
0.24-0.021260.02440.17-0.03-0.78
0.22-0.021270.02300.16-0.02-0.80

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

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