Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 10:01 AM ET

PSNY max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.77
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$5+32.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.23±32.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.86118 puts / 137 calls
Call wall$6largest call OI
Put wall$4largest put OI
IV30115.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$82per 1% move · flip ≈ $3

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$5+32.6%30d
Fri, Dec 18$4+6.1%58d
Fri, Jan 15$7+85.7%86d
Fri, Apr 16$6+59.2%177d
Fri, Jan 21$10+165.3%457d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot51357911$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 — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot51468106464
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PSNY 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

spot51468103838
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3568911385%111%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 135.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 3146810+$189−$189
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
0.99-0.0010.02200.00-0.00-0.02
0.76-0.0130.22230.00-0.01-0.23
0.46-0.0140.31700.00-0.01-0.53
0.26-0.0150.23220.00-0.01-0.72
0.17-0.0160.16060.00-0.01-0.81
0.13-0.0170.11930.00-0.01-0.85
0.11-0.0180.09420.00-0.01-0.88
0.09-0.0190.07780.00-0.01-0.90
0.08-0.01100.06640.00-0.00-0.91
0.07-0.01110.05810.00-0.00-0.92

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

spot16111824302340
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

spot1713192532422422
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 2K 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: PSNY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk