HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-18 expiration, over 43 strikes carrying 14,938 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, 8:59 PM ET
How7,287 put contracts / 7,651 call contracts = 0.95 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, 8:59 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 — 220 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HWM 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
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 39.4% · 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
0.94
-0.04
175
0.0034
0.08
-0.05
-0.06
0.92
-0.05
180
0.0044
0.10
-0.06
-0.07
0.90
-0.07
185
0.0056
0.13
-0.07
-0.10
0.87
-0.08
190
0.0070
0.15
-0.09
-0.13
0.83
-0.10
195
0.0085
0.18
-0.10
-0.17
0.78
-0.11
200
0.0100
0.21
-0.12
-0.22
0.66
-0.14
210
0.0127
0.26
-0.14
-0.34
0.52
-0.15
220
0.0140
0.28
-0.15
-0.48
0.39
-0.14
230
0.0136
0.27
-0.14
-0.62
0.27
-0.12
240
0.0117
0.23
-0.12
-0.74
0.18
-0.10
250
0.0092
0.19
-0.10
-0.83
0.12
-0.07
260
0.0067
0.14
-0.07
-0.90
0.08
-0.06
270
0.0048
0.10
-0.06
-0.94
0.05
-0.04
280
0.0033
0.07
-0.04
-0.97
0.03
-0.03
290
0.0022
0.05
-0.03
-0.99
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 43 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.