Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 1, 2:17 AM ET

CMG max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.8
Max pain · Fri, Dec 11$29-8.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.18±10.0% by Fri, Dec 11
Put/Call OI0.0918 puts / 203 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$29largest put OI
IV3035.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $32

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 6$29-8.8%5d
Fri, Nov 13$29-8.8%12d
Fri, Nov 20$30-5.7%19d
Fri, Nov 27$30-5.7%26d
Fri, Dec 4$27-15.1%33d
Fri, Dec 11$29-8.8%40d
Fri, Dec 18$33.2+4.4%47d
Fri, Jan 15$35+10.1%75d
Fri, Mar 19$35+10.1%138d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot29222529323639$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 — 29 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spot29222730323538112112
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CMG open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 11.

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 11

spot292227303235382424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spot22252932363957%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spotflip 32222730323538+$9K−$9K
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 11

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.00220.00760.01-0.00-0.02
0.98-0.00230.00980.01-0.00-0.02
0.91-0.01270.03740.02-0.01-0.09
0.81-0.01290.06860.03-0.01-0.20
0.72-0.02300.08440.04-0.02-0.28
0.63-0.02310.09670.04-0.02-0.37
0.53-0.02320.10290.04-0.02-0.48
0.34-0.02340.09480.04-0.02-0.68
0.25-0.01350.08330.04-0.01-0.76
0.18-0.01360.06930.03-0.01-0.84
0.09-0.01380.04210.02-0.01-0.94
0.07-0.01390.03200.01-0.01-0.96

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

spot152428.532.536.542.521K0
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

spot17.52833425580185K185K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 408K call contracts, 581K 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.

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: CMG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk