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

PSX max pain

Spot (delayed)$289.58
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$220-24.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$40.05±13.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.847K puts / 8K calls
Call wall$280largest call OI
Put wall$220largest put OI
IV3045.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.5Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $195

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, 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

spot22065138211284357430$142M$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, Dec 18

spot220651101552002903801K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PSX open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot22065110155200290380100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot65138211284357430178%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 195115150185240310380+$640K−$640K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.042200.00210.11-0.05-0.05
0.92-0.062300.00300.16-0.07-0.08
0.88-0.092400.00400.22-0.10-0.12
0.83-0.122500.00510.28-0.12-0.17
0.76-0.142600.00610.34-0.15-0.24
0.69-0.162700.00700.39-0.17-0.31
0.62-0.182800.00760.42-0.18-0.39
0.54-0.182900.00790.44-0.19-0.47
0.46-0.183000.00790.44-0.19-0.55
0.39-0.183100.00760.42-0.18-0.62
0.32-0.173200.00710.39-0.17-0.69
0.26-0.153300.00640.36-0.15-0.75
0.21-0.133400.00570.32-0.13-0.81
0.16-0.113500.00490.27-0.11-0.85
0.13-0.103600.00410.23-0.09-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 49 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