HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 17 strikes carrying 634 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 4, 11:08 AM ET
How495 put contracts / 139 call contracts = 3.56 for the 2026-12-04 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 4, 11:08 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-04 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, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — 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 — 77 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HYG open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.
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 4
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 4.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4
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 4
Call Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.95
-0.00
74
0.0440
0.02
-0.01
-0.07
0.94
-0.00
74.5
0.0589
0.03
-0.01
-0.09
0.92
-0.00
75
0.0804
0.03
-0.01
-0.12
0.89
-0.01
75.5
0.1118
0.04
-0.01
-0.17
0.85
-0.01
76
0.1582
0.05
-0.01
-0.23
0.78
-0.01
76.5
0.2258
0.07
-0.01
-0.32
0.67
-0.01
77
0.3154
0.08
-0.01
-0.46
0.50
-0.01
77.5
0.4024
0.08
-0.01
-0.64
0.30
-0.01
78
0.3802
0.07
-0.00
-0.82
0.13
-0.00
78.5
0.2431
0.05
-0.00
-0.93
0.05
-0.00
79
0.1135
0.03
-0.00
-0.97
0.02
-0.00
80
0.0380
0.01
0.00
-0.99
0.00
-0.00
90
0.0022
0.00
not quoted
-1.00
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
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.