HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-18 expiration, over 23 strikes carrying 280 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:17 PM ET
How66 put contracts / 214 call contracts = 0.31 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:17 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-18 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.
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.
■ 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 — 130 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HLI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.
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, Dec 18
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18
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, Dec 18
Call Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.92
-0.05
115
0.0053
0.07
-0.06
-0.09
0.90
-0.06
120
0.0070
0.08
-0.06
-0.11
0.87
-0.07
125
0.0091
0.10
-0.07
-0.14
0.83
-0.08
130
0.0119
0.12
-0.08
-0.18
0.77
-0.08
135
0.0155
0.14
-0.08
-0.23
0.70
-0.09
140
0.0195
0.17
-0.09
-0.31
0.59
-0.09
145
0.0232
0.18
-0.09
-0.41
0.47
-0.09
150
0.0248
0.19
-0.09
-0.53
0.35
-0.08
155
0.0232
0.18
-0.08
-0.65
0.26
-0.07
160
0.0195
0.15
-0.07
-0.74
0.15
-0.06
170
0.0124
0.11
-0.05
-0.86
0.09
-0.04
180
0.0080
0.08
-0.04
-0.91
0.08
-0.04
185
0.0066
0.07
-0.04
-0.93
0.07
-0.04
190
0.0054
0.06
-0.03
-0.94
0.05
-0.03
200
0.0039
0.05
-0.03
-0.96
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.