Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET

PS max pain

Spot (delayed)$44.2
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$45
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 16 strikes carrying 1,217 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+1.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.15
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 9.15 USD, 20.7% of 44.20 spot.
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±20.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.66
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET
How760 put contracts / 457 call contracts = 1.66 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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760 puts / 457 calls
Call wall$60
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET
How60.00 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$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET
How30.00 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
IV3061.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$4K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:47 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

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$50+13.1%10d
Fri, Dec 18$55+24.4%38d
Fri, Jan 15$45+1.8%66d
Fri, Feb 19$45+1.8%101d
Fri, May 21$50+13.1%192d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45183145587285$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4517.52540557085247247
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PS 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

spot452535404550559696
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot183145587285125%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot17.525405570+$5K−$5K
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
1.00-0.0217.50.00220.01-0.01-0.02
1.00-0.02200.00310.01-0.01-0.03
1.00-0.0222.50.00450.02-0.01-0.04
0.99-0.02250.00380.02-0.01-0.05
0.95-0.03300.01790.01-0.02-0.10
0.84-0.03350.02750.04-0.02-0.19
0.68-0.03400.03690.06-0.03-0.33
0.48-0.03450.03790.07-0.03-0.51
0.32-0.03500.03150.07-0.03-0.65
0.23-0.03550.02430.06-0.03-0.74
0.17-0.03600.01860.05-0.02-0.80
0.13-0.02650.01450.04-0.02-0.84
0.10-0.02700.01160.03-0.02-0.86
0.08-0.02750.00940.03-0.01-0.88
0.07-0.01800.00780.02-0.01-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot25405570856110
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

spot17.525405570852K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 10K 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: PS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk