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, Feb 19Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.97
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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 2027-02-19 expiration = 4.97 USD, 16.6% of 29.88 spot.
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±16.6% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.26
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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
How2,564 put contracts / 9,783 call contracts = 0.26 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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3K puts / 10K calls
Call wall$30
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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
How30.00 for the 2027-02-19 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$31
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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
How31.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
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+$270K
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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 2027-02-19 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 ≈ $23

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, Feb 19

spot2026313641462K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TMF open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot24263032384177
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot20273441485576%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 23202631364146+$91K−$91K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.01230.02630.03-0.01-0.12
0.87-0.01240.03230.03-0.01-0.15
0.83-0.01250.03890.04-0.01-0.18
0.79-0.01260.04570.05-0.01-0.23
0.73-0.01270.05210.05-0.01-0.28
0.68-0.01280.05770.06-0.01-0.34
0.61-0.01290.06170.06-0.01-0.40
0.55-0.01300.06390.06-0.01-0.46
0.49-0.01310.06410.07-0.01-0.52
0.43-0.01320.06260.06-0.01-0.58
0.37-0.01330.05960.06-0.01-0.64
0.33-0.01340.05580.06-0.01-0.69
0.28-0.01350.05160.06-0.01-0.73
0.25-0.01360.04720.05-0.01-0.77
0.22-0.01370.04290.05-0.01-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 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