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

PSX max pain

Spot (delayed)$289.58
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$265-8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$34.45±11.9% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI1.0010 puts / 10 calls
Call wall$265largest call OI
Put wall$250largest put OI
IV3045.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$159per 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 — 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

spot265240266292318344370$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 — 265 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot26524026533035537044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PSX open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot26524026533035537022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot24026629231834437049%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot240265340360+$2K−$2K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.102400.00390.15-0.10-0.10
0.86-0.132500.00540.21-0.13-0.15
0.75-0.182650.00750.30-0.18-0.25
0.57-0.222850.00920.37-0.22-0.43
0.21-0.163300.00680.28-0.15-0.80
0.16-0.133400.00560.23-0.13-0.85
0.10-0.103550.00410.17-0.09-0.91
0.09-0.093600.00360.15-0.08-0.92
0.06-0.073700.00280.12-0.06-0.94

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

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