Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:21 PM ET

PZZA max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.04
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$27.5+52.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.03±16.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.597K puts / 13K calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3066.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$83Kper 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 · 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$20+10.9%26d
Fri, Dec 18$27.5+52.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$22.5+24.7%82d
Fri, Mar 19$22.5+24.7%145d
Fri, Apr 16$27.5+52.4%173d
Thu, Jun 17$27.5+52.4%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot27.5132742567185$47M$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 — 27.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot27.512.52537.550653K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PZZA 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

spot27.512.52537.55065248248
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot132742567185208%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 53.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot12.522.532.542.552.570+$100K−$100K
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
0.93-0.0112.50.02670.01-0.01-0.08
0.82-0.01150.05740.02-0.01-0.18
0.62-0.0117.50.08870.03-0.01-0.38
0.40-0.01200.08970.03-0.01-0.61
0.24-0.0122.50.06900.02-0.01-0.78
0.14-0.01250.04760.02-0.01-0.88
0.09-0.0127.50.03180.01-0.01-0.94
0.05-0.01300.02130.01-0.01-0.97
0.04-0.0032.50.01440.01-0.00-0.99
0.02-0.00350.00990.00-0.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.52537.55062.58515K0
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

spot517.53042.5557016K16K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 50K call contracts, 15K 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: PZZA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk