Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET

SCHW max pain

Spot (delayed)$93.16
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$90
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 39 strikes carrying 129,780 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-3.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 8.35 USD, 9.0% of 93.16 spot.
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±9.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.12
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET
How68,603 put contracts / 61,177 call contracts = 1.12 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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69K puts / 61K calls
Call wall$72.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET
How72.50 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$90
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET
How90.00 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
IV3026.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$3.1M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:38 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 ≈ $72.5

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 13$93-0.2%3d
Fri, Nov 20$92-1.2%10d
Fri, Nov 27$91-2.3%17d
Fri, Dec 4$91-2.3%24d
Fri, Dec 11$90-3.4%31d
Fri, Dec 18$97.5+4.7%38d
Fri, Jan 15$90-3.4%66d
Fri, Feb 19$95+2.0%101d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides129d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot90335782106131155$338M$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 — 90 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot9032.55067.58510514014K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SCHW 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

spot9057.582.59097.51103K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot35598310713115593%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 72.532.547.562.577.592.5115+$3.6M−$3.6M
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
0.95-0.01750.00820.04-0.01-0.05
0.93-0.0177.50.01110.06-0.01-0.08
0.90-0.01800.01480.07-0.02-0.11
0.86-0.0282.50.01940.09-0.02-0.15
0.80-0.02850.02450.11-0.02-0.20
0.74-0.0387.50.02980.13-0.03-0.27
0.66-0.03900.03460.15-0.03-0.35
0.57-0.0392.50.03790.15-0.03-0.45
0.47-0.03950.03900.16-0.03-0.55
0.38-0.0397.50.03780.15-0.03-0.65
0.29-0.031000.03430.14-0.03-0.74
0.15-0.021050.02400.10-0.02-0.90
0.07-0.011100.01390.06-0.01-0.98
0.03-0.011150.00710.03not quoted-1.00
0.01-0.001200.00330.01not quoted-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 39 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot558592981061205K0
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

spot32.562.5849410512537K37K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 252K call contracts, 238K 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: SCHW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk