Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET

MSM max pain

Spot (delayed)$119.3
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$105
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 18 strikes carrying 304 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-12.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 18.50 USD, 15.5% of 119.30 spot.
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±15.5% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.16
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET
How42 put contracts / 262 call contracts = 0.16 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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42 puts / 262 calls
Call wall$150
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET
How150.00 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$70
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET
How70.00 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
IV3031.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$42K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:09 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 · flip ≈ $115

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$120+0.6%10d
Fri, Dec 18$115-3.6%38d
Fri, Mar 19$105-12.0%129d
Thu, Jun 17too thin219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1057088106124142160$1M$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 — 105 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot1057090105120135150106106
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MSM 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot708810612414216063%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 1157090105120135150+$15K−$15K
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
0.94-0.01850.00420.07-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.01900.00590.10-0.02-0.09
0.88-0.02950.00800.14-0.02-0.13
0.83-0.021000.01020.18-0.03-0.17
0.77-0.031050.01250.21-0.03-0.23
0.70-0.031100.01460.24-0.03-0.30
0.62-0.031150.01610.27-0.04-0.39
0.53-0.041200.01690.28-0.04-0.47
0.45-0.041250.01700.28-0.04-0.56
0.37-0.031300.01630.27-0.03-0.64
0.30-0.031350.01500.25-0.03-0.71
0.24-0.031400.01340.22-0.03-0.77
0.19-0.021450.01160.19-0.02-0.82
0.15-0.021500.00990.17-0.02-0.86
0.12-0.021550.00830.14-0.01-0.90

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1001151301451601K0
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

spot50751001251501751K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 1K 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: MSM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk