Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET

PBR max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.85
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$21
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 19 strikes carrying 2,651 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+17.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.61
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 1.61 USD, 9.0% of 17.85 spot.
Open the source document →
±9.0% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI1.17
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
How1,429 put contracts / 1,222 call contracts = 1.17 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
1K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$25
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
How25.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$21
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
How21.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3039.2%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$10K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:48 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-04 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $18.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 13$20+12.0%3d
Fri, Nov 20$21+17.6%10d
Fri, Nov 27$22.5+26.1%17d
Fri, Dec 4$21+17.6%24d
Fri, Dec 11$20+12.0%31d
Fri, Dec 18$20+12.0%38d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides66d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides101d
Fri, Mar 19$22+23.2%129d
Fri, Apr 16$21+17.6%157d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot21161820232527$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 — 21 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot211619212325436436
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PBR open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot211718.5202122150150
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot161820232527156%15%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 72.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 18.51619212325+$16K−$16K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.00160.06420.01-0.01-0.15
0.84-0.01170.15650.01-0.01-0.33
0.63-0.01180.23310.02-0.01-0.56
0.51-0.0218.50.23950.02-0.01-0.66
0.40-0.01190.22520.02-0.01-0.75
0.30-0.0119.50.19720.01-0.01-0.81
0.23-0.01200.16420.01-0.01-0.86
0.17-0.0120.50.13290.01-0.01-0.90
0.14-0.01210.10710.01-0.01-0.92
0.11-0.0121.50.08700.01-0.01-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4151923273398K0
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

spot31217.52226.531202K202K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1.2M call contracts, 1.0M 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: PBR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk