Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET

COP max pain

Spot (delayed)$136.8
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$139
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 44 strikes carrying 874 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+1.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.05
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 11.05 USD, 8.1% of 136.80 spot.
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±8.1% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.61
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET
How330 put contracts / 544 call contracts = 0.61 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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330 puts / 544 calls
Call wall$152.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET
How152.50 for the 2026-12-04 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$130
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET
How130.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3035.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$60K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:02 PM 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.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $150

Event risk before this expiration: 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 13$144+5.3%5d
Fri, Nov 20$125-8.6%12d
Fri, Nov 27$141+3.1%19d
Fri, Dec 4$139+1.6%26d
Fri, Dec 11$138+0.9%33d
Fri, Dec 18$120-12.3%40d
Fri, Jan 15$115-15.9%68d
Fri, Feb 19$135-1.3%103d
Fri, Mar 19$135-1.3%131d
Fri, May 21$160+17.0%194d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot139110126142158174190$2M$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 — 139 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot139110125135143152.5177.5121121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)COP 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

spot139118126133137141149103103
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot11012614215817419074%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 150110125135143152.5177.5+$42K−$42K
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
0.70-0.091300.02670.13-0.09-0.32
0.67-0.091310.02760.14-0.09-0.34
0.64-0.091320.02850.14-0.09-0.37
0.61-0.101330.02920.14-0.10-0.40
0.58-0.101340.02970.15-0.10-0.43
0.55-0.101350.03010.15-0.10-0.46
0.52-0.101360.03040.15-0.10-0.49
0.49-0.101370.03040.15-0.10-0.52
0.46-0.091380.03030.15-0.10-0.55
0.43-0.091390.03000.15-0.10-0.58
0.40-0.091400.02960.14-0.09-0.61
0.38-0.091410.02890.14-0.09-0.64
0.35-0.091420.02820.14-0.09-0.67
0.32-0.081430.02730.14-0.09-0.69
0.30-0.081440.02630.13-0.08-0.72

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot8012012913814716514K0
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

spot42.590119133147177.525K25K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 167K call contracts, 136K 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: COP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk