HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-18 expiration, over 23 strikes carrying 46,477 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
How3,973 put contracts / 42,504 call contracts = 0.09 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-18 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.
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.
■ 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 — 11 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DNA open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.
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 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 117.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18
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 18
Call Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.99
-0.00
2
0.0039
0.00
-0.00
-0.01
0.97
-0.00
4
0.0129
0.00
-0.01
-0.03
0.95
-0.01
5
0.0220
0.00
-0.01
-0.06
0.92
-0.01
6
0.0363
0.01
-0.01
-0.09
0.86
-0.01
7
0.0558
0.01
-0.01
-0.15
0.78
-0.01
8
0.0766
0.01
-0.01
-0.23
0.68
-0.01
9
0.0925
0.01
-0.01
-0.33
0.58
-0.02
10
0.1001
0.01
-0.02
-0.43
0.49
-0.02
11
0.1004
0.01
-0.02
-0.52
0.41
-0.02
12
0.0960
0.01
-0.02
-0.60
0.34
-0.02
13
0.0889
0.01
-0.02
-0.67
0.29
-0.01
14
0.0808
0.01
-0.01
-0.73
0.24
-0.01
15
0.0725
0.01
-0.01
-0.78
0.20
-0.01
16
0.0646
0.01
-0.01
-0.82
0.17
-0.01
17
0.0572
0.01
-0.01
-0.85
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.