Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET

NET max pain

Spot (delayed)$294.5
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$300
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 51 strikes carrying 10,141 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+1.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$81.98
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 81.98 USD, 27.8% of 294.50 spot.
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±27.8% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.01
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
How5,106 put contracts / 5,035 call contracts = 1.01 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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5K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$380
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
How380.00 for the 2027-02-19 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$250
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
How250.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3064.4%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$89K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:36 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-02-19 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 ≈ $460

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 13$275-6.6%3d
Fri, Nov 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Nov 27$275-6.6%17d
Fri, Dec 4one strike decides24d
Fri, Dec 11$290-1.5%31d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Jan 15$250-15.1%66d
Fri, Feb 19$300+1.9%101d
Fri, Mar 19$350+18.8%129d
Fri, May 21$320+8.7%192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot300110196282368454540$90M$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 — 300 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot300110155200290380470943943
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NET open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot300120220280340410540158158
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot110196282368454540102%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 460110165220310400490+$263K−$263K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.122200.00220.38-0.13-0.16
0.81-0.142300.00250.42-0.15-0.19
0.78-0.152400.00270.46-0.16-0.22
0.74-0.162500.00300.50-0.17-0.26
0.71-0.172600.00320.53-0.18-0.29
0.67-0.182700.00340.56-0.18-0.33
0.64-0.182800.00360.58-0.19-0.37
0.60-0.192900.00370.60-0.19-0.41
0.56-0.193000.00380.61-0.20-0.44
0.52-0.193100.00390.62-0.20-0.48
0.49-0.193200.00390.62-0.20-0.52
0.45-0.193300.00390.61-0.19-0.56
0.41-0.193400.00390.60-0.19-0.59
0.38-0.183500.00380.59-0.18-0.63
0.35-0.183600.00370.57-0.17-0.66

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 51 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot85175240287.53304002K0
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

spot85140195272.53604709K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 123K call contracts, 112K 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: NET workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk