HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-18 expiration, over 19 strikes carrying 130 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, 7:55 PM ET
How47 put contracts / 83 call contracts = 0.57 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, 7:55 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 — 126 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IXN 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 ≈ 33.0% · 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
0.90
-0.05
104
0.0086
0.07
-0.05
-0.11
0.89
-0.05
105
0.0091
0.08
-0.05
-0.11
0.88
-0.05
106
0.0098
0.08
-0.05
-0.12
0.88
-0.05
107
0.0104
0.08
-0.05
-0.13
0.87
-0.05
108
0.0111
0.09
-0.06
-0.14
0.85
-0.06
110
0.0126
0.10
-0.06
-0.15
0.70
-0.07
120
0.0236
0.14
-0.07
-0.30
0.54
-0.07
126
0.0299
0.16
-0.07
-0.46
0.42
-0.07
130
0.0301
0.16
-0.07
-0.58
0.39
-0.07
131
0.0295
0.16
-0.07
-0.61
0.34
-0.06
133
0.0277
0.15
-0.06
-0.66
0.32
-0.06
134
0.0266
0.14
-0.06
-0.68
0.21
-0.06
140
0.0197
0.12
-0.05
-0.79
0.15
-0.05
145
0.0150
0.10
-0.05
-0.84
0.12
-0.04
150
0.0116
0.08
-0.04
-0.88
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 19 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.