Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET

MSTZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.27
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$10
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 38 strikes carrying 12,426 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+205.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.58
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 1.58 USD, 48.2% of 3.27 spot.
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±48.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.44
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET
How3,816 put contracts / 8,610 call contracts = 0.44 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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4K puts / 9K calls
Call wall$40
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET
How40.00 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
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET
How17.00 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
IV30150.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 12:36 AM 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 · flip ≈ $2

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$3-8.3%17d
Fri, Dec 18$3-8.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15$10+205.8%73d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides136d
Thu, Jun 17too thin226d
Fri, Jan 21$14+328.1%444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot101917243240$15M$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1018152230383K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MSTZ 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

spot103478102102
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1917243240322%131%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 143.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 21713192635+$3K−$3K
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
0.96-0.0010.04510.00-0.00-0.05
0.84-0.0020.11360.00-0.00-0.15
0.65-0.0130.17270.01-0.01-0.32
0.48-0.0140.17890.01-0.01-0.48
0.36-0.0150.16130.01-0.01-0.59
0.29-0.0160.14060.01-0.01-0.66
0.23-0.0170.12230.00-0.00-0.71
0.20-0.0180.10690.00-0.00-0.75
0.17-0.0090.09430.00-0.00-0.78
0.14-0.00100.08380.00-0.00-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot181522303710K0
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

spot181522293610K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 39K call contracts, 7K 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: MSTZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk