Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET

BKLN max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.43
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$21
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-04-16 expiration, over 8 strikes carrying 64,450 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+2.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.85
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-04-16 expiration = 0.85 USD, 4.2% of 20.43 spot.
Open the source document →
±4.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.54
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
How22,484 put contracts / 41,966 call contracts = 0.54 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
22K puts / 42K calls
Call wall$21
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
How21.00 for the 2027-04-16 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$20
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
How20.00 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV307.2%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.2M
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 7:18 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-04-16 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 · flip ≈ $21

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 20too thin16d
Fri, Dec 18too thin44d
Fri, Jan 15$20-2.1%72d
Fri, Apr 16$21+2.8%163d
Fri, Jan 21$21+2.8%443d
Fri, Jan 19$21+2.8%807d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot21171820212324$13M$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 — 21 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot211719212342K42K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BKLN open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot18192022232427%5%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 7.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 2117192123+$6.1M−$6.1M
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.980.00170.04260.01-0.00-0.09
0.960.00180.08190.01-0.00-0.13
0.92-0.00190.19460.02-0.00-0.20
0.74-0.00200.62800.04-0.00-0.41
0.23-0.00210.35400.040.00-0.81
0.10-0.00220.14290.030.00-0.91
0.06-0.00230.07620.02not quoted-0.94
0.040.00240.04710.01not quoted-0.96

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

spot19202122232411K0
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

spot111519232757K57K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 62K call contracts, 50K 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: BKLN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk