Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET

TT max pain

Spot (delayed)$417.96
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$390
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 31 strikes carrying 997 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-6.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$69.2
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 69.20 USD, 16.6% of 417.96 spot.
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±16.6% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.60
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
How374 put contracts / 623 call contracts = 0.60 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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374 puts / 623 calls
Call wall$460
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
How460.00 for the 2027-03-19 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$400
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
How400.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3035.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$75K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 2:04 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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 ≈ $400

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 20$440+5.3%17d
Fri, Dec 18$440+5.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15$500+19.6%73d
Fri, Mar 19$390-6.7%136d
Thu, Jun 17$420+0.5%226d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot390260320380440500560$10M$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 — 390 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot3902603203804405005608181
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot26032038044050056046%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 400260320380440500560+$43K−$43K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.083500.00270.64-0.09-0.17
0.80-0.093600.00300.71-0.09-0.20
0.77-0.103700.00340.78-0.10-0.24
0.73-0.103800.00370.84-0.11-0.28
0.69-0.113900.00400.90-0.12-0.32
0.65-0.124000.00420.94-0.12-0.36
0.60-0.124100.00440.98-0.12-0.41
0.56-0.124200.00461.00-0.13-0.45
0.51-0.124300.00471.01-0.13-0.50
0.47-0.124400.00471.01-0.13-0.55
0.42-0.124500.00460.99-0.12-0.59
0.38-0.124600.00450.97-0.12-0.64
0.34-0.114700.00440.93-0.11-0.68
0.30-0.104800.00420.89-0.11-0.72
0.27-0.104900.00390.84-0.10-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 31 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1702703604505406302K0
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

spot1602203204205206202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 7K 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: TT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk