Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET

UL max pain

Spot (delayed)$66.92
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$67.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 14 strikes carrying 2,118 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+0.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.18
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 6.18 USD, 9.2% of 66.92 spot.
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±9.2% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI2.11
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET
How1,437 put contracts / 681 call contracts = 2.11 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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1K puts / 681 calls
Call wall$67.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET
How67.50 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$57.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET
How57.50 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
IV3020.4%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$6K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 11:51 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

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$60-10.3%15d
Fri, Dec 18$62.5-6.6%43d
Fri, Jan 15$60-10.3%71d
Fri, Feb 19$67.5+0.9%106d
Fri, May 21$65-2.9%197d
Thu, Jun 17$57.5-14.1%224d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot67.5455259667380$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 — 67.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot67.54552.56067.575371371
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)UL 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

spot67.547.55062.567.572.51919
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot45525966738036%18%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 21.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot4552.56067.575+$35K−$35K
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
0.97not quoted500.00660.03-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.0052.50.00980.04-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.00550.01440.05-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.0157.50.02090.07-0.01-0.12
0.83-0.01600.02920.09-0.01-0.18
0.75-0.0162.50.03860.12-0.01-0.26
0.64-0.01650.04730.14-0.01-0.37
0.52-0.0167.50.05210.14-0.01-0.51
0.39-0.01700.05110.14-0.01-0.65
0.28-0.0172.50.04480.12-0.01-0.78
0.19-0.01750.03580.10-0.01-0.88
0.08-0.01800.01940.06not quoted-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot40506070806K0
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

spot3042.55567.5801057K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 40K call contracts, 33K 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: UL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk