Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET

DNA max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.88
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$7
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 27 strikes carrying 7,948 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-29.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.93
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 3.93 USD, 39.7% of 9.88 spot.
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±39.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.14
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
How980 put contracts / 6,968 call contracts = 0.14 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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980 puts / 7K calls
Call wall$18
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
How18.00 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$7
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
How7.00 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
IV30120.9%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:34 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$32K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
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 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

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$10+1.2%17d
Fri, Dec 18$11+11.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15$7-29.1%73d
Fri, Mar 19$10+1.2%136d
Fri, May 21$7-29.1%199d
Thu, Jun 17too thin226d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot73915202632$11M$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 — 7 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot738131823301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DNA 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

spot75811131522151151
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3915202632233%91%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 111.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3813182330+$6K−$6K
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
0.98-0.0030.00790.00-0.00-0.03
0.97-0.0040.01380.00-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.0050.02310.01-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.0160.03620.01-0.01-0.11
0.84-0.0170.05160.01-0.01-0.17
0.77-0.0180.06590.01-0.01-0.24
0.68-0.0190.07620.02-0.01-0.33
0.60-0.01100.08170.02-0.01-0.41
0.53-0.01110.08310.02-0.01-0.49
0.46-0.01120.08150.02-0.01-0.56
0.40-0.01130.07820.02-0.01-0.62
0.35-0.01140.07380.02-0.01-0.67
0.30-0.01150.06890.02-0.01-0.71
0.27-0.01160.06380.01-0.01-0.75
0.23-0.01170.05880.01-0.01-0.79

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot161116212712K0
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

spot171319253212K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 59K call contracts, 6K 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: DNA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk