Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET

TMF max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.88
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.18
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 4.18 USD, 14.0% of 29.88 spot.
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±14.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.76
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
How47,252 put contracts / 62,473 call contracts = 0.76 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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47K puts / 62K calls
Call wall$90
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
How90.00 for the 2027-01-15 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, 7:34 PM ET
How29.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3038.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$591K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 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

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 6.7% 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, 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$28-6.3%3d
Fri, Nov 13$28-6.3%10d
Fri, Nov 20$28-6.3%17d
Fri, Nov 27$26.5-11.3%24d
Fri, Dec 4$29-2.9%31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18$28-6.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides108d
Fri, May 21$26-13.0%199d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 6.7% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2031415161719K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TMF open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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 15

spot203137465664422422
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot20344862769096%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 22203141516171+$551K−$551K
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 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01230.02280.02-0.01-0.09
0.90-0.01240.03010.02-0.01-0.12
0.87-0.01250.03890.03-0.01-0.15
0.83-0.01260.04900.03-0.01-0.20
0.77-0.01270.05960.04-0.01-0.26
0.70-0.01280.06950.05-0.01-0.32
0.63-0.01290.07700.05-0.01-0.40
0.55-0.01300.08090.05-0.01-0.47
0.47-0.01310.08060.05-0.01-0.55
0.40-0.01320.07680.05-0.01-0.62
0.33-0.01330.07070.05-0.01-0.68
0.28-0.01340.06360.04-0.01-0.73
0.23-0.01350.05620.04-0.01-0.78
0.19-0.01360.04940.04-0.01-0.81
0.16-0.01370.04310.03-0.01-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 58 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot202629.53339464K0
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

spot1524.531.542567015K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 141K call contracts, 97K 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: TMF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk