Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET

CAH max pain

Spot (delayed)$276.79
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$255
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 18 strikes carrying 329 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-7.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 15.30 USD, 5.5% of 276.79 spot.
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±5.5% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.24
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET
How64 put contracts / 265 call contracts = 0.24 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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64 puts / 265 calls
Call wall$255
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET
How255.00 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$260
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET
How260.00 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
IV3026.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$208K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:32 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 ≈ $195

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$280+1.2%3d
Fri, Nov 20$240-13.3%10d
Fri, Nov 27$255-7.9%17d
Fri, Dec 4$255-7.9%24d
Fri, Dec 11$245-11.5%31d
Fri, Dec 18$220-20.5%38d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides66d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides129d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot255185208231254277300$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 — 255 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot255185215235260275290205205
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CAH 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

spot25523526528028544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot18520823125427730084%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 195185215235260275290+$152K−$152K
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
0.97-0.042250.00220.05-0.04-0.03
0.95-0.062350.00360.07-0.06-0.05
0.93-0.072400.00460.09-0.07-0.07
0.85-0.102550.01000.16-0.11-0.15
0.81-0.122600.01260.20-0.12-0.20
0.74-0.142650.01570.23-0.14-0.26
0.66-0.152700.01850.26-0.15-0.34
0.56-0.162750.02050.28-0.16-0.44
0.46-0.162800.02100.28-0.16-0.55
0.36-0.152850.01970.27-0.15-0.65
0.27-0.132900.01720.24-0.14-0.73
0.21-0.122950.01430.20-0.12-0.80
0.15-0.103000.01150.17-0.10-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot120210242.5260277.52957860
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

spot901451802302703203K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 18K call contracts, 15K 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: CAH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk