Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET

DBC max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.45
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Apr 16Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.38
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-04-16 expiration = 4.38 USD, 13.5% of 32.45 spot.
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±13.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.72
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET
How871 put contracts / 1,207 call contracts = 0.72 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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871 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET
How35.00 for the 2027-04-16 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$41
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET
How41.00 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3026.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$37K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:17 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-04-16 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

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 9.2% 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$33+1.7%17d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides45d
Fri, Jan 15$31-4.5%73d
Fri, Apr 16one strike decides164d
Fri, Dec 17$19-41.4%409d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 9.2% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot172529333842463463
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DBC open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot3031323541456060
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot17232834394569%18%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot172529333842+$17K−$17K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.88-0.01250.02950.04-0.01-0.15
0.86-0.01260.03570.04-0.01-0.17
0.84-0.01270.04380.05-0.01-0.20
0.81-0.01280.05350.06-0.01-0.23
0.76-0.01290.06560.06-0.01-0.27
0.70-0.01300.07800.07-0.01-0.33
0.62-0.01310.08730.08-0.01-0.40
0.54-0.01320.08880.08-0.01-0.48
0.45-0.01330.08280.08-0.01-0.56
0.38-0.01340.07430.08-0.01-0.63
0.33-0.01350.06580.08-0.01-0.68
0.29-0.01360.05820.07-0.01-0.73
0.22-0.01380.04620.06-0.01-0.79
0.20-0.01390.04140.06-0.01-0.81
0.18-0.01400.03740.06-0.01-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot15222732371K0
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

spot1521273339454K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 13K call contracts, 4K 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: DBC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk