Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET

CELH max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.52
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$28
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 19 strikes carrying 916 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
-5.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.7
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 4.70 USD, 15.9% of 29.52 spot.
Open the source document →
±15.9% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.73
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET
How388 put contracts / 528 call contracts = 0.73 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
388 puts / 528 calls
Call wall$35
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET
How35.00 for the 2026-12-04 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$24
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET
How24.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3068.1%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:05 AM 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $33

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · 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 6$29-1.8%3d
Fri, Nov 13$29-1.8%10d
Fri, Nov 20$29.5-0.1%17d
Fri, Nov 27$28-5.1%24d
Fri, Dec 4$28-5.1%31d
Fri, Dec 11$29-1.8%38d
Fri, Dec 18$30+1.6%45d
Fri, Jan 15$32.5+10.1%73d
Fri, Mar 19$30+1.6%136d
Fri, Apr 16$30+1.6%164d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot28202428323640$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot282025293337139139
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CELH 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

spot282427313437130130
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot202428323640108%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 332025293337+$7K−$7K
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
0.91-0.01230.02480.01-0.02-0.09
0.88-0.02240.03170.02-0.02-0.12
0.84-0.02250.03930.02-0.02-0.16
0.79-0.03260.04690.03-0.03-0.21
0.74-0.03270.05380.03-0.03-0.27
0.68-0.03280.05960.03-0.03-0.33
0.61-0.04290.06390.03-0.04-0.39
0.54-0.04300.06620.04-0.04-0.46
0.48-0.04310.06670.04-0.04-0.52
0.42-0.04320.06540.04-0.04-0.59
0.36-0.03330.06250.03-0.04-0.65
0.30-0.03340.05850.03-0.03-0.70
0.25-0.03350.05360.03-0.03-0.75
0.21-0.03360.04830.03-0.03-0.79
0.18-0.02370.04290.02-0.02-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1722.52629.53336.56K0
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

spot12.52328.53442.57060K60K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 437K call contracts, 163K 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: CELH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk