Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET

SCO max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.21
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$17.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 22 strikes carrying 1,960 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-13.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.1
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 3.10 USD, 15.3% of 20.21 spot.
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±15.3% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI1.23
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
How1,081 put contracts / 879 call contracts = 1.23 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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1K puts / 879 calls
Call wall$21
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
How21.00 for the 2026-12-04 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$15.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
How15.50 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3072.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:53 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-04 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 ≈ $20

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 13$17.5-13.4%3d
Fri, Nov 20$18-10.9%10d
Fri, Nov 27one strike decides17d
Fri, Dec 4$17.5-13.4%24d
Fri, Dec 11$17.5-13.4%31d
Fri, Dec 18$18-10.9%38d
Fri, Jan 15$20-1.1%66d
Fri, Apr 16$15-25.8%157d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5121417192224$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot17.511.515.517.519.521.523.5376376
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SCO open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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, Dec 4

spot17.51819.521.523.525169169
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot121417192224143%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 75.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 2011.515.517.519.521.523.5+$11K−$11K
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, Dec 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.0216.50.05300.01-0.02-0.15
0.82-0.02170.06140.01-0.02-0.18
0.79-0.0217.50.07030.01-0.02-0.21
0.75-0.03180.07930.02-0.03-0.25
0.71-0.0318.50.08820.02-0.03-0.29
0.66-0.03190.09620.02-0.03-0.34
0.61-0.0319.50.10260.02-0.03-0.39
0.56-0.03200.10710.02-0.03-0.44
0.50-0.0320.50.10900.02-0.03-0.50
0.45-0.03210.10850.02-0.03-0.55
0.40-0.0321.50.10570.02-0.03-0.60
0.35-0.03220.10110.02-0.03-0.65
0.31-0.0322.50.09520.02-0.03-0.69
0.27-0.03230.08850.02-0.03-0.73
0.24-0.0223.50.08160.02-0.02-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1013161922263K0
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

spot513182328348K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 49K call contracts, 24K 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: SCO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk