Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET

EWJ max pain

Spot (delayed)$92.8
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$97
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 36 strikes carrying 9,015 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+4.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 10.35 USD, 11.2% of 92.80 spot.
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±11.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI2.46
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET
How6,411 put contracts / 2,604 call contracts = 2.46 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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6K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$97
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET
How97.00 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$95
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET
How95.00 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 put OI
IV3023.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$996K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:24 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 ≈ $75

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · 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 6$96+3.4%3d
Fri, Nov 13$94.5+1.8%10d
Fri, Nov 20$98+5.6%17d
Fri, Nov 27$94+1.3%24d
Fri, Dec 4too thin31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18$94.84+2.2%45d
Fri, Jan 15$89.84-3.2%73d
Fri, Mar 19$97+4.5%136d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot9745638199117135$29M$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 — 97 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot97458389951011103K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EWJ 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

spot97707585961001102929
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot4563819911713567%18%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 7545838995101110+$781K−$781K
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
0.73-0.01860.02360.19-0.02-0.28
0.71-0.02870.02510.19-0.02-0.30
0.69-0.02880.02660.20-0.02-0.32
0.66-0.02890.02810.21-0.02-0.35
0.63-0.02900.02950.21-0.02-0.38
0.60-0.02910.03070.22-0.02-0.41
0.57-0.02920.03180.22-0.02-0.45
0.54-0.02930.03260.22-0.02-0.48
0.51-0.02940.03310.23-0.02-0.52
0.48-0.02950.03330.22-0.02-0.55
0.44-0.02960.03320.22-0.02-0.59
0.41-0.02970.03280.22-0.02-0.62
0.38-0.02980.03210.21-0.02-0.66
0.35-0.02990.03120.21-0.02-0.69
0.33-0.011000.03010.20-0.02-0.72

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 36 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot80929597.51001053K0
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

spot34.8472.848389.8494.84104.8415K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 29K call contracts, 67K 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: EWJ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk