Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:56 AM ET

PPLI max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.19
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$40+4.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.82±12.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.21313 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3039.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$63Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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$40+4.7%24d
Fri, Dec 18$40+4.7%52d
Fri, Mar 19$35-8.4%143d
Thu, Jun 17$45+17.8%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40253341495765$3M$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot402532.54047.555611611
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PPLI 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

spot402532.54047.55511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot253341495765105%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 42.52532.54047.555+$51K−$51K
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
0.95-0.01250.00970.02-0.01-0.06
0.93-0.0127.50.01450.02-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01300.02180.03-0.01-0.11
0.84-0.0232.50.03320.04-0.02-0.17
0.75-0.02350.05010.05-0.02-0.26
0.61-0.0237.50.06860.06-0.02-0.40
0.43-0.02400.07240.06-0.02-0.59
0.29-0.0242.50.05920.05-0.02-0.73
0.21-0.02450.04450.04-0.02-0.82
0.15-0.0147.50.03360.04-0.02-0.88
0.12-0.01500.02590.03-0.01-0.92
0.10-0.0152.50.02060.03-0.01-0.94
0.08-0.01550.01670.02-0.01-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot253542.550606190
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

spot2027.53542.550603K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 6K 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: PPLI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk