Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET

RL max pain

Spot (delayed)$399.61
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$330
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 44 strikes carrying 2,439 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-17.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$41.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 41.30 USD, 10.3% of 399.61 spot.
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±10.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.13
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET
How1,294 put contracts / 1,145 call contracts = 1.13 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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1K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$330
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET
How330.00 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$250
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET
How250.00 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
IV3031.8%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$314K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:59 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 ≈ $250

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$380-4.9%10d
Fri, Dec 18$380-4.9%38d
Fri, Jan 15$330-17.4%66d
Fri, Apr 16$330-17.4%157d
Thu, Jun 17$330-17.4%219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot330175264353442531620$26M$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 — 330 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot330175230310390470560346346
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RL 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

spot3303804004201212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot175264353442531620101%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 250220280350410470530+$83K−$83K
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
0.91-0.063300.00260.27-0.07-0.09
0.89-0.083400.00330.33-0.09-0.12
0.85-0.103500.00410.40-0.10-0.15
0.80-0.113600.00490.47-0.12-0.20
0.75-0.133700.00580.54-0.13-0.25
0.69-0.143800.00650.60-0.15-0.32
0.62-0.153900.00720.65-0.15-0.39
0.54-0.154000.00750.67-0.16-0.46
0.47-0.154100.00760.68-0.16-0.54
0.40-0.154200.00740.65-0.15-0.61
0.33-0.144300.00700.61-0.14-0.68
0.27-0.134400.00630.56-0.13-0.74
0.21-0.114500.00560.50-0.11-0.80
0.17-0.104600.00480.43-0.10-0.85
0.14-0.094700.00410.37-0.09-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1752303103904705604610
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

spot1752303103904705602K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 6K 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: RL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk