Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET

EEM max pain

Spot (delayed)$61.36
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Dec 11$61.5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-11 expiration, over 18 strikes carrying 183 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+0.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.42
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-11 expiration = 4.42 USD, 7.2% of 61.36 spot.
Open the source document →
±7.2% by Fri, Dec 11
Put/Call OI1.08
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
How95 put contracts / 88 call contracts = 1.08 for the 2026-12-11 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
95 puts / 88 calls
Call wall$61.5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
How61.50 for the 2026-12-11 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$58
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
How58.00 for the 2026-12-11 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3028.8%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:57 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-11 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $61.5

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 6$63+2.7%3d
Fri, Nov 13$63+2.7%10d
Fri, Nov 20$66+7.6%17d
Fri, Nov 27$65+5.9%24d
Fri, Dec 4$62+1.0%31d
Fri, Dec 11$61.5+0.2%38d
Fri, Dec 18$65+5.9%45d
Thu, Dec 31$62+1.0%58d
Fri, Jan 15$65+5.9%73d
Fri, Mar 19$65+5.9%136d
Wed, Mar 31$67+9.2%148d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot61.5455056616772$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 — 61.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spot61.545565961.564685050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EEM open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 11.

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 11

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spot45505661677272%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 27.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spotflip 61.545565961.56468+$13K−$13K
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 11

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.02550.03300.05-0.02-0.16
0.81-0.02560.03860.05-0.02-0.19
0.78-0.03570.04480.06-0.03-0.22
0.73-0.03580.05150.07-0.03-0.27
0.68-0.03590.05830.07-0.03-0.32
0.62-0.03600.06440.07-0.03-0.38
0.56-0.03610.06920.08-0.03-0.45
0.52-0.0361.50.07080.08-0.03-0.48
0.49-0.03620.07180.08-0.03-0.52
0.38-0.0363.50.07030.08-0.03-0.63
0.34-0.03640.06840.07-0.03-0.66
0.23-0.02660.05600.06-0.02-0.79
0.18-0.02670.04850.05-0.02-0.83
0.14-0.02680.04120.05-0.02-0.87
0.13-0.0168.50.03770.04-0.01-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 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

spot5156.561.565.569.573.527K0
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

spot254754626876358K358K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1.5M call contracts, 3.1M 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: EEM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk