HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-05-21 expiration, over 32 strikes carrying 136 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:38 PM ET
How39 put contracts / 97 call contracts = 0.40 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:38 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-05-21 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.
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.
■ 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 — 1700 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MKL open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.
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, May 21
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 19.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21
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, May 21
Call Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.80
-0.17
1800
0.0009
4.02
-0.22
-0.21
0.78
-0.18
1820
0.0010
4.24
-0.23
-0.23
0.76
-0.19
1840
0.0010
4.45
-0.24
-0.25
0.74
-0.20
1860
0.0011
4.65
-0.25
-0.27
0.72
-0.21
1880
0.0012
4.85
-0.26
-0.30
0.69
-0.22
1900
0.0012
5.03
-0.27
-0.32
0.62
-0.25
1960
0.0014
5.46
-0.29
-0.41
0.59
-0.25
1980
0.0014
5.57
-0.30
-0.44
0.53
-0.26
2020
0.0015
5.69
-0.30
-0.51
0.51
-0.26
2040
0.0015
5.71
-0.30
-0.54
0.42
-0.26
2100
0.0015
5.61
-0.30
-0.64
0.34
-0.24
2160
0.0014
5.27
-0.29
-0.74
0.29
-0.23
2200
0.0013
4.95
-0.28
-0.81
0.27
-0.22
2220
0.0012
4.77
-0.27
-0.84
0.19
-0.18
2300
0.0010
3.96
-0.23
-0.95
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.