Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 5:20 AM ET

PRVA max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.06
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$20-9.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.97±13.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0122 puts / 4K calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3056.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$185Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$20-9.3%24d
Fri, Dec 18$25+13.3%52d
Fri, Feb 19$20-9.3%115d
Fri, May 21$10-54.7%206d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20131620232730$2M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2012.517.522.527.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PRVA open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot2012.517.522.527.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot131620232730198%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2012.517.522.527.5+$90K−$90K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0212.50.01250.01-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.02150.02270.01-0.02-0.09
0.85-0.0317.50.04190.01-0.03-0.15
0.73-0.03200.07830.02-0.03-0.27
0.48-0.0322.50.12040.02-0.03-0.52
0.23-0.02250.09010.02-0.02-0.77
0.12-0.0227.50.05230.01-0.01-0.87
0.08-0.01300.03280.01-0.01-0.91

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

spot2022.52527.5302K0
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

spot1017.52532.5402K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 135 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: PRVA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk