Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET

BABA max pain

Spot (delayed)$103.3
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$106
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 52 strikes carrying 7,830 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+2.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 10.35 USD, 10.0% of 103.30 spot.
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±10.0% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.54
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
How2,732 put contracts / 5,098 call contracts = 0.54 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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3K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$140
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
How140.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest call OI
Put wall$105
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
How105.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3048.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$256K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:04 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-04 expiration: (call gamma × call OI minus put gamma × put OI) × 100 × spot² × 1%, summed. Calls count as positive and puts as negative, a convention about who holds the other side, not a measurement.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $117

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Nov 13$105+1.6%3d
Fri, Nov 20$108+4.5%10d
Fri, Nov 27$107+3.6%17d
Fri, Dec 4$106+2.6%24d
Fri, Dec 11$105+1.6%31d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Jan 15$120+16.2%66d
Fri, Feb 19$105+1.6%101d
Fri, Mar 19$120+16.2%129d
Fri, Apr 16$110+6.5%157d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10680103126149172195$38M$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 — 106 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot1068093102111120145726726
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BABA 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

spot1068098105111117125280280
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot80103126149172195124%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 1178093102111120145+$64K−$64K
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
0.73-0.09960.02550.09-0.09-0.27
0.71-0.09970.02670.09-0.09-0.30
0.68-0.10980.02780.10-0.10-0.33
0.65-0.10990.02870.10-0.10-0.35
0.62-0.101000.02940.10-0.10-0.39
0.59-0.101010.03000.10-0.11-0.42
0.56-0.111020.03040.10-0.11-0.45
0.53-0.111030.03060.10-0.11-0.48
0.50-0.111040.03070.10-0.11-0.51
0.47-0.111050.03060.10-0.11-0.54
0.44-0.111060.03030.10-0.11-0.57
0.41-0.101070.02990.10-0.11-0.60
0.38-0.101080.02930.10-0.10-0.63
0.35-0.101090.02860.10-0.10-0.66
0.33-0.101100.02780.10-0.10-0.68

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 52 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot509210311412518059K0
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

spot2080106125170230100K100K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1.2M call contracts, 689K 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.

Max pain, walls and gamma print only when an expiration holds at least 100 open contracts across 5 strikes, and max pain also needs to stay within 5% of spot when its single heaviest strike is removed. Below that the expiration reads as thin rather than printing a level one trade could move.

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: BABA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk