HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-18 expiration, over 33 strikes carrying 127 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:04 PM ET
How23 put contracts / 104 call contracts = 0.22 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:04 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.
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.
■ 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 — 240 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ESE 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
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18
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 Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.93
-0.07
185
0.0031
0.11
-0.08
-0.07
0.92
-0.08
190
0.0036
0.12
-0.09
-0.08
0.90
-0.09
195
0.0043
0.14
-0.09
-0.10
0.88
-0.10
200
0.0051
0.15
-0.10
-0.12
0.83
-0.11
210
0.0072
0.19
-0.11
-0.17
0.76
-0.13
220
0.0098
0.24
-0.13
-0.24
0.65
-0.14
230
0.0126
0.28
-0.14
-0.35
0.51
-0.15
240
0.0138
0.31
-0.15
-0.49
0.39
-0.15
250
0.0129
0.29
-0.15
-0.62
0.29
-0.14
260
0.0107
0.26
-0.14
-0.72
0.22
-0.13
270
0.0087
0.23
-0.13
-0.79
0.17
-0.12
280
0.0070
0.20
-0.12
-0.83
0.14
-0.11
290
0.0056
0.17
-0.11
-0.87
0.12
-0.11
300
0.0047
0.15
-0.11
-0.89
0.10
-0.10
310
0.0039
0.13
-0.10
-0.91
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.