Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET

PRIM max pain

Spot (delayed)$69.88
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$65
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 28 strikes carrying 1,641 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
-7.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.6
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 20.60 USD, 29.5% of 69.88 spot.
Open the source document →
±29.5% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.38
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET
How455 put contracts / 1,186 call contracts = 0.38 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
455 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$75
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET
How75.00 for the 2027-03-19 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$60
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET
How60.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3067.9%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$52K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:51 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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$72.5+3.7%10d
Fri, Dec 18$77.5+10.9%38d
Fri, Mar 19$65-7.0%129d
Thu, Jun 17too thin219d
Fri, Jan 21too thin437d
Fri, Jan 19too thin801d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot6538567593112130$6M$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot6537.552.57082.595115761761
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PRIM 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot3856759311213093%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 42.537.552.57082.595115+$56K−$56K
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
0.86-0.0247.50.00690.09-0.03-0.13
0.84-0.03500.00790.10-0.03-0.16
0.81-0.0352.50.00890.11-0.03-0.18
0.79-0.03550.00990.12-0.03-0.21
0.72-0.03600.01190.14-0.04-0.27
0.65-0.04650.01360.15-0.04-0.34
0.62-0.0467.50.01430.16-0.04-0.38
0.58-0.04700.01480.16-0.04-0.42
0.54-0.0472.50.01510.16-0.04-0.46
0.51-0.04750.01530.17-0.04-0.49
0.47-0.0477.50.01540.16-0.04-0.53
0.44-0.04800.01520.16-0.04-0.57
0.40-0.0482.50.01500.16-0.04-0.60
0.37-0.04850.01470.16-0.04-0.63
0.34-0.0487.50.01420.15-0.04-0.66

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot37.57092.51301752408640
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

spot32.557.582.5115165230865865
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 2K 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: PRIM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk