Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET

SHEL max pain

Spot (delayed)$100.45
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$100
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-04-16 expiration, over 21 strikes carrying 3,563 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-0.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.6
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-04-16 expiration = 13.60 USD, 13.5% of 100.45 spot.
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±13.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.71
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET
How2,249 put contracts / 1,314 call contracts = 1.71 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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2K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$115
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET
How115.00 for the 2027-04-16 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 5, 5:45 PM ET
How90.00 for the 2027-04-16 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3026.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$211K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 5, 5:45 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-04-16 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 ≈ $65

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · 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 6$103+2.5%1d
Fri, Nov 13$101+0.5%8d
Fri, Nov 20$100-0.4%15d
Fri, Nov 27$100-0.4%22d
Fri, Dec 4$101+0.5%29d
Fri, Dec 11too thin36d
Fri, Dec 18$85-15.4%43d
Fri, Jan 15$77.5-22.8%71d
Fri, Mar 19$90-10.4%134d
Fri, Apr 16$100-0.4%162d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot100607794111128145$7M$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 — 100 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1006082.592.51051251451K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SHEL open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot1008587.592.595110113113
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot60779411112814543%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 656082.592.5105125145+$185K−$185K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.88-0.0182.50.01120.14-0.01-0.13
0.85-0.01850.01330.16-0.01-0.16
0.81-0.0187.50.01560.18-0.01-0.20
0.77-0.01900.01770.20-0.02-0.24
0.72-0.0292.50.01980.22-0.02-0.29
0.66-0.02950.02150.24-0.02-0.35
0.61-0.0297.50.02280.25-0.02-0.41
0.55-0.021000.02350.26-0.02-0.47
0.43-0.021050.02340.26-0.02-0.58
0.33-0.021100.02150.24-0.02-0.69
0.25-0.021150.01850.21-0.02-0.78
0.18-0.011200.01520.17-0.01-0.86
0.13-0.011250.01200.14-0.01-0.92
0.09-0.011300.00930.11-0.01-0.96
0.07-0.011350.00710.09not quoted-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot5085941011091172K0
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

spot32.56587.59811112512K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 128K call contracts, 89K 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: SHEL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk