Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 13, 9:03 AM ET

PPL max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.08
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$35+2.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.9±20.2% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.17610 puts / 4K calls
Call wall$42largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
Net GEX+$137Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 18$35+2.7%4d
Fri, Oct 16$35+2.7%32d
Fri, Jan 15$32-6.1%123d
Fri, Apr 16$33-3.2%214d
Thu, Jun 17$33-3.2%276d
Fri, Jan 21$35+2.7%494d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35202734414855$5M$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot3520303745552K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PPL open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot35203037455566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot20273441485535%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 302030374555+$117K$117K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95200.00830.04-0.00-0.06
0.89-0.00250.01770.08-0.00-0.12
0.83-0.00280.02650.10-0.00-0.19
0.77-0.00300.03320.12-0.00-0.25
0.66-0.00330.04300.14-0.00-0.37
0.57-0.00350.04750.15-0.00-0.47
0.48-0.00370.04930.15-0.00-0.57
0.35-0.00400.04660.14-0.00-0.72
0.28-0.00420.04230.13-0.00-0.83
0.20-0.00450.03440.11-0.01-0.97
0.15-0.00470.02910.09-0.01-1.00
0.11-0.00500.02220.07-0.01-1.00
0.06-0.00550.01370.05-0.01-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2030353943474K0
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

spot20293439445514K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 20K call contracts, 21K 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: PPL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk