Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:02 AM ET

PTGX max pain

Spot (delayed)$138.4
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$135-2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.1±10.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.4071 puts / 176 calls
Call wall$145largest call OI
Put wall$130largest put OI
IV3041.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$43Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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$135-2.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$120-13.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$80-42.2%81d
Fri, Apr 16$100-27.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot13595113131149167185$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 — 135 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot135951201351501655959
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PTGX 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

spot1359512013515016511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot95113131149167185121%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 11095120135150165+$21K−$21K
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
0.96-0.05950.00270.03-0.05-0.04
0.92-0.071100.00620.06-0.07-0.08
0.89-0.071150.00830.07-0.07-0.11
0.85-0.081200.01110.09-0.08-0.15
0.80-0.091250.01490.11-0.09-0.20
0.72-0.101300.01940.13-0.10-0.28
0.61-0.111350.02320.15-0.11-0.39
0.49-0.121400.02460.15-0.12-0.51
0.38-0.111450.02280.15-0.12-0.62
0.29-0.111500.01950.13-0.11-0.71
0.23-0.101550.01610.12-0.10-0.78
0.18-0.091600.01320.10-0.10-0.83
0.15-0.091650.01080.09-0.09-0.86
0.07-0.061850.00540.05-0.07-0.94

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

spot60951201451701952K0
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

spot55851151451752102K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K 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: PTGX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk