Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 5:22 PM ET

PSX max pain

Spot (delayed)$289.58
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$220-24.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$28.85±10.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.927K puts / 7K calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$210largest put OI
IV3045.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.5Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $185

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, Oct 30$275-5.0%4d
Fri, Nov 6$280-3.3%11d
Fri, Nov 13$260-10.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$220-24.0%25d
Fri, Nov 27$260-10.2%32d
Fri, Dec 4$265-8.5%39d
Fri, Dec 18$220-24.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$180-37.8%81d
Fri, Feb 19$240-17.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$240-17.1%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22085144203262321380$93M$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 — 220 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot220851351852552853152K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PSX 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

spot220851351852552853159292
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot110164218272326380188%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 185130175240275297.5335+$384K−$384K
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
0.72-0.25272.50.00950.26-0.25-0.30
0.69-0.262750.00990.26-0.26-0.32
0.67-0.26277.50.01030.28-0.27-0.35
0.64-0.272800.01060.28-0.27-0.38
0.61-0.28282.50.01090.29-0.28-0.40
0.58-0.282850.01110.29-0.28-0.43
0.56-0.28287.50.01120.30-0.28-0.46
0.53-0.292900.01130.30-0.28-0.48
0.50-0.29292.50.01130.30-0.28-0.51
0.47-0.292950.01130.30-0.28-0.54
0.44-0.28297.50.01120.30-0.28-0.57
0.42-0.283000.01110.29-0.27-0.59
0.39-0.28302.50.01090.29-0.27-0.62
0.36-0.273050.01060.28-0.26-0.64
0.32-0.263100.01000.27-0.25-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1502402702903103306110
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

spot751251702252803405K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 42K call contracts, 36K 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: PSX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk