Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET

KWEB max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.35
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$24
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 22 strikes carrying 75,061 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+2.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.07
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 3.07 USD, 13.2% of 23.35 spot.
Open the source document →
±13.2% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.74
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
How31,915 put contracts / 43,146 call contracts = 0.74 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
32K puts / 43K calls
Call wall$26
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
How26.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$23
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
How23.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3030.5%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$207K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 9:58 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-02-19 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $21

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · 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.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 6$23.5+0.7%3d
Fri, Nov 13$24+2.8%10d
Fri, Nov 20$24+2.8%17d
Fri, Nov 27$24.5+4.9%24d
Fri, Dec 4$24+2.8%31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18$24+2.8%45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Feb 19$24+2.8%108d
Fri, May 21$23-1.5%199d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot24151923283236$42M$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 — 24 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot2415192327313510K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KWEB open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15192328323647%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 21151923273135+$527K−$527K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.00160.01470.01-0.00-0.04
0.96-0.00170.02080.01-0.00-0.05
0.93-0.00180.02970.02-0.00-0.07
0.90-0.00190.04180.02-0.00-0.11
0.85-0.00200.05670.03-0.01-0.16
0.78-0.01210.07300.04-0.01-0.23
0.70-0.01220.08810.04-0.01-0.32
0.61-0.01230.09910.05-0.01-0.42
0.51-0.01240.10360.05-0.01-0.52
0.41-0.01250.10070.05-0.01-0.63
0.32-0.01260.09220.05-0.01-0.72
0.25-0.01270.08050.04-0.01-0.79
0.19-0.01280.06790.04-0.00-0.85
0.14-0.00290.05590.03-0.00-0.90
0.11-0.00300.04530.02-0.00-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot152124.528334048K0
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

spot122127354759217K217K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1.6M call contracts, 596K 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: KWEB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk