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

PPLI max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.19
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$45+17.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.08±23.8% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 11 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
IV3039.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$425per 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$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

spot45454851545760$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot4545506088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PPLI open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot4545506033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot455060+$328−$328
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.36-0.01450.03480.11-0.01-0.67
0.24-0.01500.02810.10-0.01-0.81
0.11-0.00600.01580.06-0.00-0.97

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

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