Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET

BCE max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.67
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 15 strikes carrying 1,622 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.75
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 2.75 USD, 13.3% of 20.67 spot.
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±13.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.10
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
How152 put contracts / 1,470 call contracts = 0.10 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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152 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$24
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
How24.00 for the 2027-03-19 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$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
How20.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3028.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$47K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:55 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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 ≈ $16

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 20$20-3.2%17d
Fri, Dec 18$21+1.6%45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Mar 19$20-3.2%136d
Thu, Jun 17too thin226d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20151821252831$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot2015182124291K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BCE open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot16192225283157%17%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 161518212429+$46K−$46K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.00150.03180.02-0.00-0.11
0.89-0.00160.04360.02-0.00-0.14
0.85-0.00170.05900.03-0.00-0.18
0.80-0.00180.07890.03-0.00-0.24
0.72-0.01190.10250.04-0.01-0.32
0.61-0.01200.12430.05-0.00-0.43
0.48-0.00210.13280.05-0.00-0.55
0.36-0.00220.12170.05-0.00-0.67
0.28-0.00230.10190.04-0.00-0.75
0.21-0.00240.08290.04-0.00-0.80
0.17-0.00250.06760.03-0.00-0.84
0.11-0.00280.04000.02-0.00-0.90
0.09-0.00290.03450.02-0.00-0.91
0.08-0.00300.03020.02-0.00-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot13182226304020K0
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

spot12172227324220K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 39K call contracts, 12K 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: BCE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk