Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET

ENR max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.47
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 18Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.72
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-18 expiration = 3.72 USD, 15.2% of 24.47 spot.
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±15.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.43
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET
How1,034 put contracts / 2,380 call contracts = 0.43 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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1K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET
How20.00 for the 2026-12-18 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$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET
How20.00 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3052.4%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$72K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 6:19 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-18 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 ≈ $20

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 10.2% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Event risk before this expiration: 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$20-18.3%14d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides42d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides105d
Fri, May 21$22.5-8.1%196d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 10.2% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot7.512.517.522.530942942
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ENR open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot1517.525303232
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot101520253035188%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 201015202535+$27K−$27K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.00not quoted7.50.00040.000.00-0.00
1.00not quoted100.00030.00-0.00-0.00
1.00not quoted12.50.00160.00-0.00-0.01
0.99not quoted150.00630.00-0.01-0.03
0.96-0.0017.50.01960.01-0.01-0.07
0.88-0.01200.04770.02-0.01-0.15
0.71-0.0222.50.08450.03-0.02-0.31
0.47-0.02250.09860.03-0.02-0.54
0.14-0.01300.05120.02-0.01-0.86
0.05-0.01350.02010.01not quoted-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.517.522.5304K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5304K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 3K 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: ENR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk