Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET

PCT max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.33
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 14 strikes carrying 92,783 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-9.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.98
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 1.98 USD, 59.3% of 3.33 spot.
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±59.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.04
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
How3,154 put contracts / 89,629 call contracts = 0.04 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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3K puts / 90K calls
Call wall$6
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
How6.00 for the 2027-03-19 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$4
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
How4.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV30136.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$130K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:11 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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 ≈ $3

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 6$3-9.9%3d
Fri, Nov 13one strike decides10d
Fri, Nov 20$5+50.2%17d
Fri, Nov 27one strike decides24d
Fri, Dec 4$3-9.9%31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides108d
Fri, Mar 19$3-9.9%136d
Fri, May 21one strike decides199d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot314691114$69M$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, Mar 19

spot3147101325K25K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PCT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot34574K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot14691114233%107%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 134.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 31471013+$41K−$41K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0010.03120.00-0.00-0.04
0.84-0.0020.09430.01-0.00-0.15
0.68-0.0030.14140.01-0.00-0.31
0.54-0.0040.15700.01-0.00-0.45
0.43-0.0050.15350.01-0.00-0.56
0.35-0.0060.14240.01-0.00-0.64
0.29-0.0070.12940.01-0.00-0.71
0.25-0.0080.11680.01-0.00-0.76
0.21-0.0090.10540.01-0.00-0.79
0.18-0.00100.09540.01-0.00-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot14713192514K0
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

spot0.547.512192788K88K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 480K call contracts, 155K 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: PCT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk