Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET

GKOS max pain

Spot (delayed)$238.22
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$185
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 37 strikes carrying 1,419 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-22.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$40.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 40.30 USD, 16.9% of 238.22 spot.
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±16.9% by Fri, Jan 15
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, 2:58 PM ET
How640 put contracts / 779 call contracts = 0.82 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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640 puts / 779 calls
Call wall$270
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET
How270.00 for the 2027-01-15 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$230
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET
How230.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3052.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$70K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 2:58 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 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 ≈ $85

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$230-3.4%10d
Fri, Dec 18$190-20.2%38d
Fri, Jan 15$185-22.3%66d
Fri, Apr 16$200-16.0%157d
Fri, Dec 17$165-30.7%402d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot18560116172228284340$10M$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 — 185 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot18560105145180230330108108
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GKOS open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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 15

spot1852402502601818
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot60116172228284340177%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 8580120150180220280+$36K−$36K
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 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.071850.00340.19-0.08-0.11
0.87-0.081900.00390.22-0.09-0.13
0.84-0.091950.00440.24-0.10-0.15
0.82-0.102000.00490.27-0.10-0.18
0.76-0.122100.00590.31-0.12-0.24
0.69-0.132200.00680.36-0.14-0.31
0.62-0.142300.00750.39-0.15-0.38
0.54-0.152400.00790.40-0.15-0.46
0.46-0.152500.00790.40-0.15-0.54
0.39-0.142600.00760.39-0.14-0.62
0.32-0.132700.00710.36-0.13-0.68
0.26-0.122800.00650.33-0.12-0.74
0.11-0.073200.00360.19-0.07-0.90
0.09-0.063300.00310.16-0.06-0.93
0.07-0.053400.00260.14-0.05-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 37 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot601151501852403209400
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

spot45901351802503403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 11K 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: GKOS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk