Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET

GFI max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.15
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 21Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.1
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2028-01-21 expiration = 16.10 USD, 42.2% of 38.15 spot.
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±42.2% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.60
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET
How1,464 put contracts / 2,458 call contracts = 0.60 for the 2028-01-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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1K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$70
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET
How70.00 for the 2028-01-21 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$60
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET
How60.00 for the 2028-01-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3051.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$25K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:26 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2028-01-21 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 ≈ $25

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 13.1% 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$35-8.3%9d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides37d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides65d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides128d
Fri, Apr 16$30-21.4%156d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides436d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 13.1% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot202535455565827827
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GFI open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 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, Jan 21

spot354045507088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot20304050607062%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 48.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 25202535455565+$17K−$17K
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, Jan 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.00200.00670.05-0.00-0.08
0.94-0.0022.50.00900.07-0.00-0.11
0.91-0.00250.01130.09-0.01-0.15
0.83-0.01300.01590.12-0.01-0.23
0.73-0.01350.01960.14-0.01-0.34
0.63-0.01400.02180.16-0.01-0.44
0.54-0.01450.02250.16-0.01-0.54
0.46-0.01500.02210.16-0.01-0.63
0.39-0.01550.02090.15-0.01-0.71
0.33-0.01600.01940.14-0.01-0.78
0.28-0.01650.01780.13-0.00-0.83
0.24-0.01700.01610.12-0.00-0.87

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

spot20354145507013K0
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

spot20283440466014K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 29K call contracts, 21K 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: GFI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk