Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET

SDS max pain

Spot (delayed)$56.22
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$67
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 31 strikes carrying 1,348 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+19.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.78
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 5.78 USD, 10.3% of 56.22 spot.
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±10.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.82
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET
How606 put contracts / 742 call contracts = 0.82 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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606 puts / 742 calls
Call wall$71
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET
How71.00 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$72
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET
How72.00 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
IV3035.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$14K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 6:56 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 ≈ $50

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$53-5.7%10d
Fri, Dec 18$52-7.5%38d
Fri, Jan 15$67+19.2%66d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides129d
Thu, Jun 17too thin219d
Fri, Jan 21$55-2.2%437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot6740557085100115$3M$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 — 67 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot674062687480115113113
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SDS 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4055708510011594%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 504062687480115+$13K−$13K
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
0.99-0.00400.00430.01-0.01-0.04
0.97-0.00450.01020.02-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.01500.03070.04-0.01-0.16
0.63-0.02550.05970.09-0.02-0.43
0.39-0.03600.04410.09-0.03-0.65
0.35-0.03610.04080.09-0.03-0.67
0.33-0.03620.03780.09-0.03-0.70
0.30-0.03630.03510.08-0.03-0.72
0.28-0.03640.03260.08-0.03-0.74
0.26-0.03650.03040.08-0.03-0.75
0.25-0.03660.02840.07-0.03-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 31 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4556637077903260
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

spot3043546576901K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 3K 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: SDS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk