Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:53 PM ET

PUBM max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.35
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$17.5+0.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.7±27.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.536K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3087.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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, Nov 20$15-13.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$15-13.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5+0.9%81d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5-28.0%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.53814192530$6M$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot17.52.57.512.517.522.5303K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PUBM open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot17.52.57.512.517.522.5301111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3814192530246%60%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 71.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 7.52.57.512.517.522.530+$51K−$51K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.002.50.00130.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.0050.00370.00-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.007.50.00840.01-0.00-0.04
0.93-0.01100.01790.01-0.01-0.07
0.86-0.0112.50.03530.02-0.01-0.14
0.73-0.01150.05720.03-0.01-0.28
0.56-0.0117.50.06910.03-0.01-0.45
0.41-0.01200.06640.03-0.01-0.60
0.29-0.0122.50.05660.03-0.01-0.72
0.21-0.01250.04580.02-0.01-0.81
0.11-0.01300.02860.02-0.01-0.92

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5303K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5303K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 7K 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: PUBM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk