Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET

P max pain

Spot (delayed)$101.98
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, May 21$130
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-05-21 expiration, over 33 strikes carrying 3,061 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+27.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$44.85
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-05-21 expiration = 44.85 USD, 44.0% of 101.98 spot.
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±44.0% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.57
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
How1,113 put contracts / 1,948 call contracts = 0.57 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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1K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$145
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
How145.00 for the 2027-05-21 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$90
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
How90.00 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3099.4%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$55K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:07 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-05-21 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 ≈ $55

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$110+7.9%10d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Jan 15$85-16.7%66d
Fri, Feb 19$110+7.9%101d
Fri, May 21$130+27.5%192d
Thu, Jun 17$165+61.8%219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1305086122158194230$16M$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 — 130 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot1305080110140170200653653
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)P open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot130608011011512012522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot508612215819423090%74%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 555080110140170200+$42K−$42K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.03650.00360.17-0.04-0.14
0.83-0.03700.00410.19-0.04-0.17
0.80-0.04750.00460.20-0.04-0.20
0.77-0.04800.00500.22-0.05-0.23
0.73-0.04850.00540.24-0.05-0.26
0.70-0.05900.00580.25-0.05-0.30
0.67-0.05950.00610.27-0.05-0.33
0.63-0.051000.00640.28-0.05-0.36
0.60-0.051050.00660.28-0.05-0.40
0.57-0.051100.00680.29-0.06-0.43
0.54-0.061150.00690.29-0.06-0.46
0.51-0.061200.00690.29-0.05-0.50
0.48-0.061250.00700.29-0.05-0.53
0.45-0.061300.00690.29-0.05-0.56
0.42-0.061350.00690.29-0.05-0.58

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2050851201551905K0
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

spot20508512015519010K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 79K call contracts, 67K 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: P workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk