Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET

FAZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.91
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Apr 16Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.8
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-04-16 expiration = 9.80 USD, 30.7% of 31.91 spot.
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±30.7% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.91
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET
How112 put contracts / 123 call contracts = 0.91 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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112 puts / 123 calls
Call wall$40
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET
How40.00 for the 2027-04-16 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$33
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET
How33.00 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3050.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$22
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:03 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-04-16 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 ≈ $24

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 6.3% 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, 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 20$33+3.4%17d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides45d
Fri, Jan 15$44+37.9%73d
Fri, Apr 16one strike decides164d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 6.3% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2326303538452828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FAZ open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot303335401515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot23283439455069%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 58.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 24232630353845+$721−$721
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.01230.02050.05-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.01240.02270.05-0.01-0.17
0.79-0.01250.02480.06-0.01-0.20
0.76-0.01260.02670.06-0.01-0.23
0.69-0.01280.02970.07-0.01-0.30
0.66-0.01290.03070.08-0.01-0.33
0.62-0.01300.03150.08-0.01-0.36
0.56-0.01320.03230.08-0.01-0.43
0.53-0.01330.03230.08-0.01-0.46
0.47-0.01350.03180.08-0.01-0.52
0.44-0.01360.03130.08-0.01-0.54
0.42-0.01370.03070.08-0.01-0.57
0.39-0.01380.03010.08-0.01-0.59
0.37-0.01390.02930.08-0.01-0.61
0.35-0.01400.02850.08-0.01-0.64

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2033404754641K0
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

spot2029384756652K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 5K 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: FAZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk