Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET

CALY max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.87
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 21Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.68
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2028-01-21 expiration = 7.68 USD, 48.4% of 15.87 spot.
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±48.4% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.47
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET
How824 put contracts / 1,745 call contracts = 0.47 for the 2028-01-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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824 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$2.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET
How2.50 for the 2028-01-21 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$7.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET
How7.50 for the 2028-01-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3056.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:04 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2028-01-21 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 ≈ $7.5

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 15.8% 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 18too thin45d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-21.2%73d
Fri, Feb 19$15-5.5%108d
Fri, May 21too thin199d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 15.8% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot2.57.512.517.522.530700700
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CALY open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot12.517.520256262
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot391622293599%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 58.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 7.52.57.512.517.522.530+$2K−$2K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99not quoted2.50.00280.01-0.00-0.01
0.960.0050.00660.01-0.00-0.04
0.91-0.007.50.01270.03-0.00-0.07
0.84-0.00100.02070.04-0.00-0.14
0.76-0.0012.50.02900.05-0.00-0.22
0.67-0.00150.03550.06-0.00-0.32
0.57-0.0017.50.03920.07-0.00-0.42
0.48-0.00200.04030.07-0.00-0.52
0.41-0.0022.50.03950.07-0.00-0.60
0.34-0.00250.03740.06-0.00-0.68
0.24-0.00300.03170.06-0.00-0.80
0.17-0.00350.02590.04-0.00-0.90

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

spot7.512.517.522.5301K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 3K 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: CALY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk