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

NOWL max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.7
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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, Apr 16$3
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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 2027-04-16 expiration, over 13 strikes carrying 1,899 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-18.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.43
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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 2027-04-16 expiration = 2.43 USD, 65.5% of 3.70 spot.
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±65.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.15
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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
How247 put contracts / 1,652 call contracts = 0.15 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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247 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$10
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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
How10.00 for the 2027-04-16 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$5
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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
How5.00 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3099.5%
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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+$2K
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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 2027-04-16 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

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 20one strike decides17d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Apr 16$3-18.9%164d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides444d
Fri, Jan 19one strike decides808d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3258101316$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 — 3 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot32581116507507
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NOWL open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot3123454747
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot258101316231%83%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 122.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2581116+$629−$629
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.0020.05960.01-0.00-0.13
0.73-0.0030.11800.01-0.00-0.25
0.58-0.0040.15320.01-0.00-0.41
0.46-0.0050.15320.01-0.00-0.53
0.37-0.0060.14100.01-0.00-0.62
0.30-0.0070.12690.01-0.00-0.69
0.26-0.0080.11370.01-0.00-0.74
0.22-0.0090.10200.01-0.00-0.78
0.19-0.00100.09190.01-0.00-0.81
0.17-0.00110.08310.01-0.00-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1471013163K0
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

spot1471013163K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 16K call contracts, 4K 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: NOWL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk