Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET

SILJ max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.79
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, May 21$25
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-05-21 expiration, over 24 strikes carrying 10,899 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+5.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.4
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-05-21 expiration = 7.40 USD, 31.1% of 23.79 spot.
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±31.1% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.38
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
How3,003 put contracts / 7,896 call contracts = 0.38 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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3K puts / 8K calls
Call wall$40
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
How40.00 for the 2027-05-21 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$24
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
How24.00 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3051.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$86K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 9:53 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-05-21 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 ≈ $30

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$23.5-1.2%2d
Fri, Nov 13$23.5-1.2%9d
Fri, Nov 20$27+13.5%16d
Fri, Nov 27$25.5+7.2%23d
Fri, Dec 4$26+9.3%30d
Fri, Dec 11$28+17.7%37d
Fri, Dec 18$24+0.9%44d
Fri, Jan 15$20-15.9%72d
Fri, Feb 19$26+9.3%107d
Fri, May 21$25+5.1%198d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152127333945$10M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot251522263034382K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SILJ open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot15212733394561%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 30152226303438+$31K−$31K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.00150.01630.03-0.00-0.09
0.83-0.01190.03160.05-0.01-0.21
0.79-0.01200.03520.05-0.01-0.26
0.75-0.01210.03840.06-0.01-0.30
0.71-0.01220.04110.06-0.01-0.34
0.67-0.01230.04320.07-0.01-0.39
0.62-0.01240.04460.07-0.01-0.44
0.58-0.01250.04550.07-0.01-0.48
0.54-0.01260.04580.07-0.01-0.53
0.50-0.01270.04570.07-0.01-0.57
0.46-0.01280.04510.07-0.01-0.61
0.43-0.01290.04420.07-0.01-0.65
0.40-0.01300.04300.07-0.01-0.69
0.37-0.01310.04160.07-0.01-0.72

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot152326.53033.54013K0
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

spot2152430.53952118K118K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 560K call contracts, 82K 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: SILJ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk