Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET

C max pain

Spot (delayed)$119.19
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$125
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 24 strikes carrying 8,528 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+4.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.48
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 15.48 USD, 13.0% of 119.19 spot.
Open the source document →
±13.0% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.12
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
How4,509 put contracts / 4,019 call contracts = 1.12 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
5K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$135
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
How135.00 for the 2027-02-19 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$95
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
How95.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3031.5%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$933
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-02-19 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $80

Event risk before this expiration: 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 13$122+2.4%5d
Fri, Nov 20$125+4.9%12d
Fri, Nov 27$125+4.9%19d
Fri, Dec 4$123+3.2%26d
Fri, Dec 11$122+2.4%33d
Fri, Dec 18$120+0.7%40d
Fri, Jan 15$110-7.7%68d
Fri, Feb 19$125+4.9%103d
Fri, Mar 19$125+4.9%131d
Fri, Apr 16$125+4.9%159d
Fri, May 21one strike decides194d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1256588111134157180$19M$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 — 125 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot12565851051251451651K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)C open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot12565105120135155338338
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot658811113415718072%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 806585105125145165+$246K−$246K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.01850.00370.06-0.01-0.05
0.93-0.02900.00530.08-0.02-0.07
0.90-0.02950.00730.11-0.02-0.10
0.86-0.021000.01000.14-0.03-0.15
0.80-0.031050.01300.18-0.03-0.21
0.73-0.031100.01620.21-0.03-0.28
0.64-0.041150.01880.24-0.04-0.37
0.54-0.041200.02060.25-0.04-0.47
0.44-0.041250.02100.25-0.04-0.57
0.34-0.031300.01990.23-0.03-0.68
0.25-0.031350.01760.20-0.03-0.77
0.17-0.021400.01450.17-0.03-0.86
0.12-0.021450.01130.13-0.02-0.93
0.08-0.011500.00840.10-0.01-0.98
0.05-0.011550.00600.07not quoted-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot701121211301391609K0
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

spot3057.582.511513018083K83K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 433K call contracts, 647K 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: C workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk