Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET

CHAT max pain

Spot (delayed)$72.52
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$89
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 34 strikes carrying 1,475 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+22.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.85
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 13.85 USD, 19.1% of 72.52 spot.
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±19.1% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.54
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
How518 put contracts / 957 call contracts = 0.54 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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518 puts / 957 calls
Call wall$115
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
How115.00 for the 2027-03-19 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$75
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
How75.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3043.4%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:41 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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 20$80+10.3%17d
Fri, Dec 18$80+10.3%45d
Fri, Mar 19$89+22.7%136d
Thu, Jun 17one strike decides226d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot89456483102121140$4M$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 — 89 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot894575859197120264264
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CHAT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot89607590971002828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot45648310212114068%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 504575859197120+$24K−$24K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.00-0.00450.00400.04-0.01-0.04
0.98-0.01500.00640.06-0.01-0.07
0.94-0.01550.00960.08-0.01-0.12
0.88-0.02600.01370.11-0.02-0.18
0.80-0.02650.01830.14-0.02-0.27
0.70-0.02700.02260.17-0.03-0.39
0.58-0.02750.02560.18-0.03-0.52
0.48-0.02790.02640.18-0.03-0.63
0.46-0.02800.02640.18-0.03-0.66
0.44-0.02810.02620.18-0.02-0.69
0.39-0.02830.02570.17-0.02-0.74
0.37-0.02840.02520.17-0.02-0.76
0.35-0.02850.02470.16-0.02-0.78
0.33-0.02860.02420.16-0.02-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot40677886941156700
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

spot4067768594115670670
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 2K 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: CHAT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk