Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET

EVC max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.11
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, May 21Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.48
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-05-21 expiration = 4.48 USD, 49.1% of 9.11 spot.
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±49.1% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.08
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET
How326 put contracts / 4,158 call contracts = 0.08 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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326 puts / 4K calls
Call wall$7.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET
How7.50 for the 2027-05-21 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$5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET
How5.00 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3074.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$20K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:43 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-05-21 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

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 27.4% 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 20$5-45.1%10d
Fri, Dec 18$5-45.1%38d
Fri, Feb 19$7.5-17.7%101d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides437d
Fri, Jan 19too thin801d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 27.4% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot5911154K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EVC open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot579111315108%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 86.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 7.5591115+$19K−$19K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.0050.02910.01-0.00-0.11
0.77-0.007.50.06010.02-0.00-0.26
0.65-0.0190.07430.03-0.01-0.37
0.58-0.01100.07890.03-0.01-0.45
0.51-0.01110.07970.03-0.01-0.52
0.43-0.0112.50.07640.03-0.01-0.61
0.33-0.01150.06640.02-0.00-0.71

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

spot2.57.51117.52512K0
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

spot2.5610141722.512K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41K 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: EVC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk