Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET

T max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.91
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 11$21.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-11 expiration, over 22 strikes carrying 1,322 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-1.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.29
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-11 expiration = 1.29 USD, 5.9% of 21.91 spot.
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±5.9% by Fri, Dec 11
Put/Call OI0.43
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET
How399 put contracts / 923 call contracts = 0.43 for the 2026-12-11 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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399 puts / 923 calls
Call wall$22.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET
How22.50 for the 2026-12-11 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$21.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET
How21.50 for the 2026-12-11 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 10, 5:28 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$48K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 5:28 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-11 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 ≈ $22.5

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 13$21.5-1.9%3d
Fri, Nov 20$22+0.4%10d
Fri, Nov 27$21.5-1.9%17d
Fri, Dec 4$21.5-1.9%24d
Fri, Dec 11$21.5-1.9%31d
Fri, Dec 18$23+5.0%38d
Fri, Jan 15$22+0.4%66d
Fri, Mar 19$23+5.0%129d
Fri, Apr 16$23+5.0%157d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot21.5131619222528$1M$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 — 21.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spot21.51317.519.521.523.525.5177177
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)T open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 11.

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 11

spot21.51519.520.521.522.523.58888
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spot19202123242668%17%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 11

spotflip 22.51317.519.521.523.525.5+$20K−$20K
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 11

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0018.50.04080.01-0.00-0.05
0.94-0.00190.05590.01-0.00-0.06
0.91-0.0119.50.07770.01-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.01200.10710.01-0.01-0.13
0.81-0.0120.50.14280.02-0.01-0.19
0.73-0.01210.18050.02-0.01-0.27
0.64-0.0121.50.21390.02-0.01-0.37
0.53-0.01220.23450.03-0.01-0.48
0.41-0.0122.50.23400.03-0.01-0.60
0.30-0.01230.21190.02-0.01-0.72
0.20-0.0123.50.17500.02-0.01-0.82
0.13-0.01240.13190.01-0.01-0.90
0.09-0.0024.50.09480.01-0.01-0.95
0.06-0.00250.06940.01-0.00-0.97
0.05-0.0025.50.05260.01-0.00-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot111721242730.518K0
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

spot1117.52124.5283299K99K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 698K call contracts, 435K 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: T workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk