Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET

QLD max pain

Spot (delayed)$82.05
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$81
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-04-16 expiration, over 37 strikes carrying 1,692 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-1.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.05
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-04-16 expiration = 20.05 USD, 24.4% of 82.05 spot.
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±24.4% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.36
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
How444 put contracts / 1,248 call contracts = 0.36 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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444 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$130
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
How130.00 for the 2027-04-16 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$92
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
How92.00 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3054.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$38K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:09 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-04-16 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 ≈ $70

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 20$90+9.7%16d
Fri, Dec 18$86+4.8%44d
Fri, Jan 15$47.5-42.1%72d
Fri, Apr 16$81-1.3%163d
Fri, Jan 21$55-33.0%443d
Fri, Jan 19$78-4.9%807d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot81456687108129150$5M$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 — 81 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot8145798794105145435435
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QLD open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot816075809011599
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot45668710812915073%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 7045798794105145+$18K−$18K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.02600.00760.13-0.02-0.16
0.79-0.02650.00940.15-0.03-0.21
0.73-0.02700.01140.18-0.03-0.26
0.67-0.03750.01320.20-0.03-0.33
0.61-0.03790.01460.21-0.03-0.39
0.59-0.03800.01480.21-0.03-0.40
0.58-0.03810.01510.21-0.03-0.42
0.56-0.03820.01540.21-0.03-0.44
0.55-0.03830.01560.21-0.03-0.45
0.53-0.03840.01580.21-0.03-0.47
0.51-0.03850.01590.21-0.03-0.48
0.48-0.03870.01620.21-0.03-0.52
0.47-0.03880.01620.21-0.03-0.54
0.45-0.03890.01630.21-0.03-0.55
0.43-0.03900.01630.21-0.03-0.57

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 37 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2049.56782931063K0
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

spot305065.582.5921023K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 39K call contracts, 15K 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: QLD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk