Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET

PBI max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.7
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 18Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.85
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-18 expiration = 1.85 USD, 11.8% of 15.70 spot.
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±11.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.37
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET
How208 put contracts / 568 call contracts = 0.37 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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208 puts / 568 calls
Call wall$16
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET
How16.00 for the 2026-12-18 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$15
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET
How15.00 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3036.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:49 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-18 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 ≈ $14

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 6.4% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

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$16+1.9%10d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides66d
Fri, Apr 16$15-4.5%157d
Fri, Jul 16too thin248d
Fri, Oct 15too thin339d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 6.4% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot91517192125226226
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PBI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot101617102102
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot91215192225116%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1491517192125+$8K−$8K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0190.01680.00-0.01-0.04
0.81-0.01140.12580.01-0.01-0.19
0.68-0.01150.19940.02-0.01-0.33
0.45-0.01160.23650.02-0.01-0.55
0.27-0.01170.17890.02-0.01-0.74
0.17-0.01180.12120.01-0.01-0.84
0.12-0.01190.08390.01-0.01-0.89
0.09-0.01200.06040.01-0.01-0.93
0.07-0.01210.04490.01-0.00-0.95
0.05-0.00220.03440.01-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.00250.01740.00-0.00-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17141924307K0
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

spot17131925328K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 45K call contracts, 13K 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: PBI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk