Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET

MULL max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.92
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$13
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 215 strikes carrying 36,419 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-12.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.8
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 7.80 USD, 52.3% of 14.92 spot.
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±52.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.50
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How12,219 put contracts / 24,200 call contracts = 0.50 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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12K puts / 24K calls
Call wall$34
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How34.00 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$11
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How11.00 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
IV30118.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$77K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 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 ≈ $31.6

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$20+34.0%17d
Fri, Dec 18$17.2+15.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15$12.6-15.6%73d
Fri, Mar 19$13-12.9%136d
Thu, Jun 17$24.8+66.2%226d
Fri, Jan 21$15+0.5%444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1331323344454$60M$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 — 13 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot132.61117.62431.638.85K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MULL open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19. Showing the 60 largest of 215 strikes by open interest, 91.7% of the total.

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

spot139161820253333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot31323344454226%99%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 109.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 31.62.61117.62431.638.8+$32K−$32K
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
0.79-0.01110.02850.03-0.01-0.21
0.78-0.0111.40.02980.03-0.01-0.23
0.75-0.01120.03170.03-0.01-0.25
0.71-0.01130.03450.03-0.01-0.29
0.69-0.0113.60.03590.03-0.01-0.32
0.67-0.01140.03670.03-0.01-0.33
0.64-0.0114.80.03810.03-0.01-0.36
0.64-0.01150.03840.03-0.01-0.37
0.63-0.0115.20.03870.03-0.01-0.38
0.56-0.0117.20.04050.04-0.01-0.45
0.54-0.0117.60.04070.04-0.01-0.47
0.53-0.01180.04080.04-0.01-0.48
0.49-0.01190.04090.04-0.01-0.52
0.46-0.01200.04060.04-0.01-0.55
0.45-0.0120.40.04050.04-0.01-0.56

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot412.416.8222937.88K0
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

spot41015.22331.64013K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 113K call contracts, 46K 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: MULL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk