Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET

SW max pain

Spot (delayed)$43.4
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 19Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.9
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2029-01-19 expiration = 18.90 USD, 43.5% of 43.40 spot.
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±43.5% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.12
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET
How14 put contracts / 115 call contracts = 0.12 for the 2029-01-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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14 puts / 115 calls
Call wall$65
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET
How65.00 for the 2029-01-19 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$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET
How35.00 for the 2029-01-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3039.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:06 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2029-01-19 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 ≈ $55

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 11.5% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

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 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Dec 18$45+3.7%38d
Fri, Jan 15$40-7.8%66d
Fri, Apr 16$40-7.8%157d
Fri, Jan 21$35-19.4%437d
Fri, Jan 19one strike decides801d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 11.5% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot253040559999
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SW open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 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, Jan 19

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot25334149576547%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 5525304055+$3K−$3K
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.00250.00730.11-0.00-0.12
0.87-0.0027.50.00870.13-0.00-0.15
0.84-0.00300.01010.15-0.00-0.18
0.78-0.00350.01280.18-0.00-0.25
0.70-0.00400.01500.21-0.01-0.32
0.66-0.0042.50.01580.22-0.01-0.36
0.49-0.01550.01730.24-0.01-0.56
0.38-0.01650.01630.23-0.00-0.70

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot20304047.560755K0
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

spot17.527.537.547.560805K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 4K 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: SW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk