Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET

RDW max pain

Spot (delayed)$8.09
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$8
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 36 strikes carrying 104,977 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-1.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.25
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 2.25 USD, 27.8% of 8.09 spot.
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±27.8% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.13
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET
How12,278 put contracts / 92,699 call contracts = 0.13 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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12K puts / 93K calls
Call wall$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET
How20.00 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$10
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET
How10.00 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
IV3079.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$250K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:13 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 ≈ $7

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 13$7-13.5%2d
Fri, Nov 20$9+11.2%9d
Fri, Nov 27$8-1.1%16d
Fri, Dec 4$8-1.1%23d
Fri, Dec 11$8.5+5.1%30d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides37d
Fri, Jan 15$8-1.1%65d
Fri, Feb 19$10+23.6%100d
Fri, May 21$9+11.2%191d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot831017253239$192M$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 — 8 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot83101622283411K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RDW 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

spot858111417252K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot31017253239181%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 80.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 731016222834+$65K−$65K
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
0.990.0030.00640.00-0.00-0.01
0.93-0.0050.04200.00-0.00-0.07
0.86-0.0060.07950.01-0.01-0.14
0.74-0.0170.11920.01-0.01-0.26
0.59-0.0180.14290.01-0.01-0.41
0.46-0.0190.14430.01-0.01-0.55
0.34-0.01100.13070.01-0.01-0.66
0.26-0.01110.11160.01-0.01-0.75
0.20-0.01120.09250.01-0.01-0.81
0.15-0.01130.07580.01-0.01-0.86
0.12-0.00140.06190.01-0.00-0.90
0.09-0.00150.05070.01-0.00-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 36 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2711.516243310K0
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

spot16.511.516.5253527K27K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 238K call contracts, 70K 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: RDW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk