Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET

MITK max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.53
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$12.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 12 strikes carrying 12,125 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-32.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.6
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 4.60 USD, 24.8% of 18.53 spot.
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±24.8% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.06
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
How725 put contracts / 11,400 call contracts = 0.06 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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725 puts / 11K calls
Call wall$17.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
How17.50 for the 2027-01-15 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$17.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
How17.50 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3075.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$233K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:07 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 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

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 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-32.5%66d
Fri, Apr 16$10-46.0%157d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d
Fri, Jan 21$7.5-59.5%437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.53916222935$18M$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12.52.57.512.517.522.5306K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MITK open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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 15

spot12.512.517.52022.5255757
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot81319243035134%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 74.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.57.512.517.522.530+$136K−$136K
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 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99not quoted2.50.00080.00-0.00-0.00
0.990.0050.00210.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.007.50.00470.00-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.00100.01130.01-0.00-0.04
0.91-0.0112.50.02560.01-0.01-0.09
0.80-0.01150.04770.02-0.01-0.20
0.64-0.0117.50.06690.03-0.02-0.36
0.47-0.02200.07210.03-0.02-0.54
0.31-0.0122.50.06440.03-0.01-0.69
0.20-0.01250.05090.02-0.01-0.81
0.08-0.01300.02590.01-0.01-0.94
0.03-0.00350.01160.01-0.00-0.99

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5307K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53011K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 29K call contracts, 2K 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: MITK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk