Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET

PRI max pain

Spot (delayed)$304.13
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$290
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 15 strikes carrying 131 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-4.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$21.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 21.30 USD, 7.0% of 304.13 spot.
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±7.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.68
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
How53 put contracts / 78 call contracts = 0.68 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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53 puts / 78 calls
Call wall$340
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
How340.00 for the 2027-01-15 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$210
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
How210.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3019.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$68K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:40 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 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 ≈ $310

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 20too thin10d
Fri, Dec 18$280-7.9%38d
Fri, Jan 15$290-4.6%66d
Fri, Mar 19too thin129d
Thu, Jun 17too thin219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot290210240270300330360$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 — 290 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2902102502803103403131
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PRI open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot21024027030033036062%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 20.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 310210250280310340+$43K−$43K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.082200.00220.18-0.08-0.08
0.90-0.082400.00320.23-0.08-0.10
0.87-0.082500.00390.26-0.09-0.12
0.85-0.082600.00490.30-0.09-0.15
0.81-0.082700.00630.34-0.09-0.18
0.77-0.082800.00830.39-0.09-0.23
0.69-0.082900.01120.45-0.08-0.31
0.57-0.083000.01490.50-0.08-0.42
0.42-0.073100.01590.50-0.07-0.59
0.29-0.073200.01290.45-0.07-0.71
0.22-0.073300.00970.39-0.07-0.79
0.18-0.073400.00750.34-0.07-0.83
0.15-0.073500.00600.30-0.06-0.86
0.13-0.063600.00490.27-0.06-0.88

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot240280300320340360740
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

spot1551852302903504107474
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 195 call contracts, 100 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: PRI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk