Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET

CORT max pain

Spot (delayed)$72.95
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 22.30 USD, 30.6% of 72.95 spot.
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±30.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.57
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET
How12,918 put contracts / 22,678 call contracts = 0.57 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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13K puts / 23K calls
Call wall$140
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET
How140.00 for the 2027-01-15 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$95
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET
How95.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3097.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$26K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:24 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 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 ≈ $23

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 20.6% 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, 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 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Dec 18$85+16.5%38d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides66d
Fri, Feb 19$85+16.5%101d
Fri, May 21$80+9.7%192d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 20.6% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot17.54062.5851151605K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CORT open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot42557080953K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot185083115148180234%78%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 91.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 2317.54062.585115160+$355K−$355K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.82-0.06550.00870.08-0.06-0.18
0.79-0.0657.50.00960.09-0.06-0.21
0.76-0.07600.01050.10-0.07-0.24
0.73-0.0762.50.01140.10-0.07-0.27
0.69-0.07650.01220.11-0.07-0.30
0.66-0.0867.50.01290.11-0.08-0.34
0.62-0.08700.01350.12-0.08-0.37
0.59-0.0872.50.01400.12-0.08-0.41
0.55-0.08750.01430.12-0.08-0.45
0.52-0.0877.50.01460.12-0.08-0.48
0.48-0.08800.01470.12-0.08-0.52
0.45-0.0882.50.01460.12-0.08-0.55
0.41-0.08850.01450.12-0.08-0.58
0.38-0.0887.50.01430.12-0.07-0.62
0.35-0.07900.01400.12-0.07-0.65

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 50 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.53552.57597.51405K0
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

spot17.53552.577.51051556K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 39K call contracts, 23K 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: CORT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk