Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 6:26 PM ET

GSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$35.56
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:26 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.75
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:26 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 3.75 USD, 10.5% of 35.56 spot.
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±10.5% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.76
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:26 PM ET
How309 put contracts / 407 call contracts = 0.76 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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309 puts / 407 calls
Call wall$32
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:26 PM ET
How32.00 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$32
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:26 PM ET
How32.00 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
IV3028.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:26 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:26 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 ≈ $27

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 14.1% 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, 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$35-1.6%17d
Fri, Dec 18too thin45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Apr 16one strike decides164d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 14.1% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot252831343740198198
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GSG 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot25293337414572%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 27252831343740+$7K−$7K
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
0.89-0.01290.02800.03-0.01-0.11
0.87-0.01300.03460.03-0.01-0.13
0.84-0.01310.04300.04-0.01-0.16
0.81-0.01320.05360.04-0.01-0.20
0.75-0.01330.06610.05-0.01-0.25
0.69-0.01340.07890.06-0.01-0.32
0.60-0.01350.08820.06-0.01-0.41
0.51-0.01360.09070.06-0.01-0.50
0.43-0.01370.08650.06-0.01-0.58
0.36-0.01380.07860.06-0.01-0.66
0.30-0.01390.06960.06-0.01-0.72
0.25-0.01400.06100.05-0.01-0.77
0.12-0.01450.03140.03-0.01-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 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

spot252932353842970
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

spot202732374247392392
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 643 call contracts, 593 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: GSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk