Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET

BBD max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.48
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.4
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 0.40 USD, 16.1% of 2.48 spot.
Open the source document →
±16.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.01
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET
How56,472 put contracts / 55,922 call contracts = 1.01 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
56K puts / 56K calls
Call wall$4
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET
How4.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$3.5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET
How3.50 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3041.4%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$47K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:51 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 20.2% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Event risk before this expiration: 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 20one strike decides17d
Fri, Dec 18$3.5+41.1%45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides108d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides136d
Thu, Jun 17one strike decides226d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 20.2% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot0.51.52.53.54.55.524K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BBD 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot123567165%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot123457+$62K−$62K
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
0.98-0.000.50.02560.00-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.0010.06580.00-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.001.50.15220.00-0.00-0.07
0.85-0.0020.43470.00-0.00-0.15
0.51-0.002.50.88440.00-0.00-0.48
0.25-0.0030.51860.00-0.00-0.74
0.15-0.003.50.31600.00-0.00-0.83
0.10-0.0040.21330.00-0.00-0.88
0.08-0.004.50.15350.00-0.00-0.92
0.06-0.0050.11540.00-0.00-0.94
0.04-0.005.50.08950.000.00-0.95
0.020.0070.04710.000.00-0.98

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

spot0.51.52.53.54.55.542K0
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

spot0.523.55763K63K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 166K call contracts, 169K 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: BBD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk