Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET

IAU max pain

Spot (delayed)$73.84
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 6$74
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-06 expiration, over 41 strikes carrying 2,249 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+0.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.58
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-06 expiration = 1.58 USD, 2.1% of 73.84 spot.
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±2.1% by Fri, Nov 6
Put/Call OI0.42
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
How668 put contracts / 1,581 call contracts = 0.42 for the 2026-11-06 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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668 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$78
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
How78.00 for the 2026-11-06 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$74
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
How74.00 for the 2026-11-06 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3023.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$170K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:39 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-11-06 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 ≈ $76.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 6$74+0.2%3d
Fri, Nov 13$75+1.6%10d
Fri, Nov 20$78+5.6%17d
Fri, Nov 27$75+1.6%24d
Fri, Dec 4$77+4.3%31d
Fri, Dec 11$76.5+3.6%38d
Fri, Dec 18$77+4.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Apr 16$75+1.6%164d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot745062748698110$5M$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 — 74 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot745072.57780.58490296296
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IAU open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 6.

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, Nov 6

spot747075767778.5882323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot656974788387112%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spotflip 76.55072.57780.58490+$104K−$104K
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, Nov 6

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.01600.00240.00-0.01-0.01
0.98-0.02650.00920.00-0.02-0.02
0.92-0.06700.05190.01-0.06-0.08
0.88-0.08710.07860.01-0.08-0.13
0.80-0.10720.11980.02-0.10-0.20
0.75-0.1172.50.14650.02-0.12-0.25
0.68-0.12730.17490.03-0.13-0.33
0.49-0.13740.21200.03-0.13-0.52
0.29-0.11750.18120.02-0.11-0.72
0.22-0.0975.50.15000.02-0.09-0.80
0.16-0.08760.11980.02-0.08-0.85
0.12-0.0676.50.09420.01-0.06-0.89
0.09-0.05770.07390.01-0.05-0.92
0.07-0.0477.50.05820.01-0.04-0.94
0.06-0.04780.04610.01-0.04-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 41 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot5072.576.580.584.5906K0
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

spot356877869511625K25K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 169K call contracts, 30K 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: IAU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk