Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET

LITX max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.88
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$28
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2029-01-19 expiration, over 45 strikes carrying 1,132 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+183.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.9
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2029-01-19 expiration = 11.90 USD, 120.4% of 9.88 spot.
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±120.4% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI1.11
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
How595 put contracts / 537 call contracts = 1.11 for the 2029-01-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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595 puts / 537 calls
Call wall$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
How35.00 for the 2029-01-19 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$15
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
How15.00 for the 2029-01-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV30132.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$307
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:39 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2029-01-19 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.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$15+51.8%10d
Fri, Dec 18$20+102.4%38d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides129d
Thu, Jun 17one strike decides219d
Fri, Jan 19$28+183.4%801d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2831528405365$2M$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot2831220284051163163
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LITX open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 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, Jan 19

spot289105188
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot31528405365169%111%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 126.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 1031220284051+$282−$282
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, Jan 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.0030.00780.01-0.00-0.05
0.89-0.0040.00960.02-0.00-0.07
0.86-0.0050.01120.02-0.00-0.09
0.82-0.0070.01340.03-0.00-0.13
0.80-0.0080.01420.03-0.00-0.14
0.78-0.0090.01490.03-0.00-0.16
0.76-0.00100.01550.04-0.00-0.18
0.75-0.00110.01600.04-0.00-0.19
0.73-0.00120.01640.04-0.00-0.20
0.72-0.00130.01680.04-0.00-0.22
0.71-0.00140.01720.04-0.00-0.23
0.70-0.00150.01750.04-0.00-0.24
0.69-0.00160.01780.04-0.00-0.26
0.68-0.00170.01800.04-0.00-0.27

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 45 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot113243546591K0
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

spot113253749611K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K call contracts, 7K 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: LITX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk