Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET

ESTC max pain

Spot (delayed)$87.1
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Feb 19Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.75
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 20.75 USD, 23.8% of 87.10 spot.
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±23.8% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.82
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET
How742 put contracts / 902 call contracts = 0.82 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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742 puts / 902 calls
Call wall$100
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET
How100.00 for the 2027-02-19 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$100
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET
How100.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3087.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:40 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-02-19 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 ≈ $110

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 11.5% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

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 18$75-13.9%38d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides66d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides101d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d
Thu, Jun 17$80-8.2%219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 11.5% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot306085110135505505
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ESTC open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot305580105130155120%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 110306085110135+$20K−$20K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.01500.00330.05-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.02550.00460.06-0.02-0.07
0.89-0.02600.00610.08-0.03-0.10
0.85-0.03650.00790.10-0.03-0.15
0.80-0.04700.00980.13-0.04-0.20
0.73-0.04750.01170.15-0.04-0.26
0.67-0.05800.01320.17-0.05-0.33
0.59-0.05850.01420.18-0.05-0.40
0.52-0.05900.01470.18-0.05-0.47
0.45-0.05950.01470.18-0.05-0.54
0.39-0.051000.01420.17-0.05-0.61
0.33-0.051050.01340.17-0.04-0.67
0.28-0.041100.01240.15-0.04-0.72
0.23-0.041150.01120.14-0.04-0.77
0.19-0.041200.01000.13-0.03-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot22.5508011014017010K0
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

spot22.5508011014017011K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 45K call contracts, 13K 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: ESTC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk