Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET

LOW max pain

Spot (delayed)$224
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$200
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 33 strikes carrying 14,490 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-10.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$36.2
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 36.20 USD, 16.2% of 224.00 spot.
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±16.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.96
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
How9,590 put contracts / 4,900 call contracts = 1.96 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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10K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$230
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
How230.00 for the 2027-03-19 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$190
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
How190.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3037.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$284K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 7:32 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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
Earnings · expectedWed, Nov 18
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceProjected from the company's own 8-K filing cadence
As ofwindow as stored 2026-11-08
HowReport date 2026-11-18. An estimate from the year-over-year reporting pattern, not a confirmed date.
usually before the open

Event risk before this expiration: 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 13$207.5-7.4%5d
Fri, Nov 20$200-10.7%12d← 1st expiry after earnings (Wed, Nov 18)
Fri, Nov 27$210-6.3%19d
Fri, Dec 4$225+0.4%26d
Fri, Dec 11one strike decides33d
Fri, Dec 18$210-6.3%40d
Fri, Jan 15$210-6.3%68d
Fri, Mar 19$200-10.7%131d
Fri, Apr 16$195-12.9%159d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot200110162214266318370$68M$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 — 200 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot2001101401702002603203K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LOW open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot2001351801952202502902121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot11016221426631837062%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot110140170200260320+$904K−$904K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.031750.00350.23-0.03-0.10
0.88-0.041800.00410.27-0.04-0.12
0.86-0.041850.00470.31-0.04-0.15
0.83-0.041900.00540.35-0.05-0.17
0.80-0.051950.00600.38-0.05-0.21
0.76-0.052000.00660.42-0.06-0.24
0.69-0.062100.00770.48-0.06-0.32
0.60-0.072200.00850.52-0.07-0.41
0.52-0.072300.00900.54-0.07-0.50
0.43-0.072400.00890.53-0.07-0.59
0.35-0.062500.00850.50-0.06-0.67
0.27-0.052600.00770.45-0.06-0.75
0.21-0.042700.00680.39-0.05-0.82
0.15-0.042800.00560.32-0.04-0.88
0.11-0.032900.00460.26-0.04-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot170195207.5220232.52501K0
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

spot90155190222.52553309K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 62K call contracts, 66K 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: LOW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk