Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 12:53 AM ET

MANE max pain

Spot (delayed)$132.3
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:53 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.55
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:53 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-18 expiration = 22.55 USD, 17.0% of 132.30 spot.
Open the source document →
±17.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.07
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:53 AM ET
How14 put contracts / 208 call contracts = 0.07 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
14 puts / 208 calls
Call wall$140
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:53 AM ET
How140.00 for the 2026-12-18 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$110
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:53 AM ET
How110.00 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3064.2%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:53 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$44K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:53 AM 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $125

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 7.6% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

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 20$115-13.1%17d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides45d
Fri, Feb 19$85-35.8%108d
Fri, May 21$120-9.3%199d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 7.6% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot651201301401501655454
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MANE 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

spot6586107128149170118%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 12565120130140150165+$13K−$13K
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 ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.00650.00060.01-0.01-0.01
0.79-0.101100.00890.13-0.10-0.21
0.68-0.121200.01160.17-0.12-0.32
0.62-0.121250.01260.18-0.13-0.39
0.55-0.131300.01340.18-0.13-0.45
0.48-0.121350.01370.18-0.13-0.52
0.42-0.121400.01370.18-0.12-0.59
0.35-0.111450.01330.17-0.11-0.66
0.29-0.101500.01250.16-0.10-0.72
0.19-0.081600.01010.12-0.07-0.83
0.14-0.061650.00870.10-0.06-0.87
0.11-0.051700.00720.09-0.05-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot55951151351551756860
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

spot5585115145175210708708
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 690 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: MANE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk