Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET

SNK max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.86
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$50
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 27 strikes carrying 1,935 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+215.4% 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 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 8.35 USD, 52.7% of 15.86 spot.
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±52.7% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI7.96
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How1,719 put contracts / 216 call contracts = 7.96 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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2K puts / 216 calls
Call wall$12.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How12.50 for the 2027-03-19 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$29
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How29.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV30112.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$8K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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 ≈ $29

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 20$13-18.0%17d
Fri, Dec 18$16+0.9%45d
Fri, Mar 19$50+215.4%136d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot50101928374655$4M$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot50101523313950802802
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SNK open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot101928374655132%103%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 112.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 29101523313950+$5K−$5K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.01100.03880.02-0.01-0.17
0.74-0.01120.04170.03-0.01-0.24
0.71-0.0112.50.04190.03-0.01-0.26
0.69-0.01130.04210.03-0.01-0.28
0.64-0.01140.04200.03-0.01-0.32
0.59-0.01150.04150.03-0.01-0.36
0.55-0.01160.04070.04-0.01-0.39
0.45-0.01190.03780.04-0.01-0.47
0.42-0.01200.03670.04-0.01-0.49
0.40-0.01210.03560.04-0.01-0.52
0.36-0.01230.03340.03-0.01-0.56
0.32-0.01250.03130.03-0.01-0.59
0.30-0.01260.03030.03-0.01-0.60
0.26-0.01290.02760.03-0.01-0.64

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot814202633421K0
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

spot19162432401K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 2K 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: SNK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk