HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-18 expiration, over 15 strikes carrying 18,119 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:31 PM ET
How7,951 put contracts / 10,168 call contracts = 0.78 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:31 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-18 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.
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.
■ 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 — 24 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SPXS open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.
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 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 53.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18
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 18
Call Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.96
-0.01
20
0.0357
0.01
-0.01
-0.07
0.93
-0.01
21
0.0482
0.01
-0.01
-0.10
0.88
-0.01
22
0.0628
0.02
-0.01
-0.14
0.80
-0.01
23
0.0779
0.03
-0.01
-0.21
0.71
-0.02
24
0.0886
0.03
-0.01
-0.30
0.61
-0.02
25
0.0908
0.04
-0.02
-0.39
0.52
-0.02
26
0.0861
0.04
-0.02
-0.48
0.44
-0.02
27
0.0785
0.04
-0.02
-0.55
0.38
-0.02
28
0.0704
0.04
-0.02
-0.61
0.34
-0.02
29
0.0630
0.03
-0.02
-0.65
0.30
-0.02
30
0.0563
0.03
-0.02
-0.69
0.27
-0.02
31
0.0506
0.03
-0.02
-0.72
0.24
-0.02
32
0.0457
0.03
-0.02
-0.75
0.22
-0.02
33
0.0414
0.03
-0.02
-0.77
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.