Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET

EFOR max pain

Spot (delayed)$35.96
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 15 strikes carrying 656 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-16.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.05
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 11.05 USD, 30.7% of 35.96 spot.
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±30.7% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI3.79
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
How519 put contracts / 137 call contracts = 3.79 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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519 puts / 137 calls
Call wall$55
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
How55.00 for the 2027-03-19 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$7.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
How7.50 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3059.9%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$3K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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 ≈ $7.5

Event risk before this expiration: 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 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Mar 19$30-16.6%129d
Thu, Jun 17too thin219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3031324344555$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot302.512.5203045292292
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EFOR open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot307.51017.522.522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot31324344555262%53%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 7.52.512.5203045+$4K−$4K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0112.50.00340.01-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.01150.00470.02-0.01-0.05
0.93-0.0117.50.00640.03-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01200.00870.03-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.0122.50.01150.04-0.01-0.11
0.85-0.01250.01500.05-0.01-0.15
0.74-0.02300.02340.07-0.02-0.25
0.59-0.02350.03030.08-0.02-0.40
0.44-0.02400.03190.08-0.02-0.55
0.31-0.02450.02860.07-0.01-0.68
0.21-0.01500.02330.06-0.01-0.78
0.15-0.01550.01810.05-0.01-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.512.52030452K0
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

spot2.51017.52540553K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K 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: EFOR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk