Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET

UVIX max pain

Spot (delayed)$42.81
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$31
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-12-04 expiration, over 57 strikes carrying 18,379 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-27.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.1
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-04 expiration = 17.10 USD, 39.9% of 42.81 spot.
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±39.9% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.23
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET
How3,427 put contracts / 14,952 call contracts = 0.23 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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3K puts / 15K calls
Call wall$31
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET
How31.00 for the 2026-12-04 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 3, 6:07 AM ET
How31.00 for the 2026-12-04 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV30171.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$367K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 6:07 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-04 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 ≈ $30.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 6$38.5-10.1%3d
Fri, Nov 13$33-22.9%10d
Fri, Nov 20one strike decides17d
Fri, Nov 27$31.5-26.4%24d
Fri, Dec 4$31-27.6%31d
Fri, Dec 11$34.5-19.4%38d
Fri, Dec 18$50+16.8%45d
Fri, Jan 15$43+0.4%73d
Fri, Feb 19$44+2.8%108d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides136d
Fri, Apr 16$60+40.2%164d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot31192837475665$32M$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 — 31 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot311930.5364146.5552K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)UVIX open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot31193338445060108108
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot192837475665208%126%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 172.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 30.51930.5364146.555+$40K−$40K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.63-0.1239.50.01830.05-0.12-0.36
0.62-0.12400.01830.05-0.12-0.37
0.61-0.1240.50.01830.05-0.12-0.38
0.60-0.13410.01830.05-0.12-0.38
0.60-0.1341.50.01820.05-0.13-0.39
0.59-0.13420.01820.05-0.13-0.40
0.58-0.1342.50.01820.05-0.13-0.41
0.57-0.13430.01810.05-0.13-0.42
0.56-0.1343.50.01800.05-0.13-0.42
0.56-0.13440.01800.05-0.13-0.43
0.55-0.1444.50.01790.05-0.13-0.44
0.54-0.14450.01780.05-0.13-0.45
0.53-0.1445.50.01780.05-0.14-0.45
0.52-0.1446.50.01760.05-0.14-0.47
0.51-0.14470.01750.05-0.14-0.47

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 57 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot203035.54146.5545K0
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

spot1830.53641.548588K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 94K call contracts, 50K 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: UVIX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk