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

PPH max pain

Spot (delayed)$114.93
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$103-10.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14±12.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.1849 puts / 278 calls
Call wall$103largest call OI
Put wall$113largest put OI
IV3022.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$51Kper 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

spot103103108112117121126$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 — 103 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot103103107111116120124110110
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PPH 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

spot1031031071111161201241010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot10310811211712112623%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot103107111116120124+$22K−$22K
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
0.73-0.021070.01820.26-0.02-0.28
0.71-0.021080.01900.27-0.02-0.30
0.69-0.021090.01980.28-0.02-0.32
0.67-0.021100.02050.28-0.02-0.34
0.65-0.021110.02120.29-0.02-0.36
0.63-0.021120.02180.30-0.02-0.38
0.61-0.021130.02230.30-0.02-0.40
0.56-0.021150.02320.31-0.02-0.45
0.54-0.021160.02360.31-0.02-0.47
0.52-0.021170.02380.31-0.02-0.50
0.49-0.021180.02400.31-0.02-0.52
0.47-0.021190.02400.31-0.02-0.55
0.45-0.021200.02400.31-0.02-0.57
0.42-0.021210.02380.31-0.02-0.59
0.40-0.021220.02360.30-0.02-0.62

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 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