Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET

DT max pain

Spot (delayed)$43.8
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Sep 17$60
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-09-17 expiration, over 18 strikes carrying 837 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+37.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-09-17 expiration = 16.30 USD, 37.2% of 43.80 spot.
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±37.2% by Fri, Sep 17
Put/Call OI6.82
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
How730 put contracts / 107 call contracts = 6.82 for the 2027-09-17 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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730 puts / 107 calls
Call wall$65
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
How65.00 for the 2027-09-17 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$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
How35.00 for the 2027-09-17 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3047.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$20K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:16 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-09-17 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$52.5+19.9%15d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides43d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides71d
Fri, Feb 19$52.5+19.9%106d
Fri, May 21$55+25.6%197d
Fri, Sep 17$60+37.0%316d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60334558708395$1M$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot6032.55057.56572.585392392
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DT open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 17.

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, Sep 17

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot33455870839556%44%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot32.55057.56572.585+$11K−$11K
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, Sep 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.0132.50.01180.10-0.01-0.17
0.81-0.01350.01390.12-0.01-0.21
0.72-0.01400.01750.14-0.01-0.31
0.53-0.01500.02130.17-0.01-0.53
0.48-0.0152.50.02130.17-0.01-0.58
0.44-0.01550.02110.16-0.01-0.63
0.40-0.0157.50.02070.16-0.01-0.68
0.36-0.01600.02000.15-0.01-0.73
0.32-0.0162.50.01920.15-0.01-0.77
0.29-0.01650.01830.14-0.01-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.53042.55567.5856K0
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

spot17.53042.55567.5859K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 51K call contracts, 20K 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: DT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk