Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 8:51 PM ET

CLDX max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.71
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 8:51 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 8:51 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 6.50 USD, 21.9% of 29.71 spot.
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±21.9% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.09
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 8:51 PM ET
How53 put contracts / 573 call contracts = 0.09 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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53 puts / 573 calls
Call wall$25
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 8:51 PM ET
How25.00 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$25
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 8:51 PM ET
How25.00 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
IV3054.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 8:51 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 8:51 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 ≈ $22

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 10.1% 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 20$32+7.7%16d
Fri, Dec 18$35+17.8%44d
Fri, Jan 15$31+4.3%72d
Fri, Feb 19too thin107d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides135d
Fri, May 21too thin198d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 10.1% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot1524313847200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CLDX 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot152535455565154%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 221524313847+$5K−$5K
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
0.87-0.01200.01560.04-0.01-0.13
0.85-0.01210.01790.04-0.01-0.15
0.83-0.01220.02030.04-0.01-0.17
0.78-0.01240.02590.05-0.01-0.22
0.75-0.01250.02880.06-0.01-0.24
0.65-0.01280.03740.07-0.01-0.35
0.61-0.01290.03950.07-0.01-0.39
0.57-0.01300.04100.07-0.01-0.44
0.53-0.01310.04190.07-0.01-0.48
0.49-0.01320.04200.07-0.01-0.52
0.41-0.01340.04050.07-0.01-0.59
0.38-0.01350.03920.07-0.01-0.63
0.33-0.01370.03600.07-0.01-0.68
0.31-0.01380.03430.06-0.01-0.71
0.27-0.01400.03110.06-0.01-0.75

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1322303744553K0
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

spot1321283542493K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 13K call contracts, 8K 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: CLDX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk