Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET

DUST max pain

Spot (delayed)$47.28
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$53
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 45 strikes carrying 3,677 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+12.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.2
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 14.20 USD, 30.0% of 47.28 spot.
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±30.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.42
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
How1,093 put contracts / 2,584 call contracts = 0.42 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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1K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$60
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
How60.00 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$61
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
How61.00 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
IV3088.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$58K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 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 ≈ $25

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$39-17.5%17d
Fri, Dec 18$41-13.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15$53+12.1%73d
Fri, Mar 19$36-23.9%136d
Thu, Jun 17too thin226d
Fri, Jan 21$40-15.4%444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot532036526884100$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 — 53 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot53204048566480609609
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DUST 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

spot533638404344481010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2036526884100131%76%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 84.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 25204048566480+$26K−$26K
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
0.74-0.04400.01870.07-0.04-0.27
0.71-0.04410.01940.07-0.04-0.29
0.69-0.04420.02010.07-0.04-0.32
0.67-0.04430.02070.07-0.04-0.34
0.65-0.04440.02120.08-0.04-0.36
0.62-0.05450.02160.08-0.04-0.38
0.60-0.05460.02200.08-0.05-0.40
0.58-0.05470.02220.08-0.05-0.43
0.56-0.05480.02240.08-0.05-0.45
0.54-0.05490.02250.08-0.05-0.47
0.51-0.05500.02250.08-0.05-0.49
0.49-0.05510.02240.08-0.05-0.51
0.47-0.05520.02230.08-0.05-0.53
0.45-0.05530.02210.08-0.05-0.55
0.43-0.05540.02190.08-0.05-0.56

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 45 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2037455361697400
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

spot2034445464741K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K 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: DUST workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk