Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET

VG max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.05
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.98
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-18 expiration = 1.98 USD, 16.4% of 12.05 spot.
Open the source document →
±16.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.95
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET
How160,878 put contracts / 168,782 call contracts = 0.95 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
161K puts / 169K calls
Call wall$12.5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET
How12.50 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$7.5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET
How7.50 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3061.6%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.7M
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:29 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-18 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 20.7% 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, 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 13$12.5+3.7%3d
Fri, Nov 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Nov 27$12.5+3.7%17d
Fri, Dec 4one strike decides24d
Fri, Dec 11$13+7.9%31d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides66d
Fri, Feb 19$12.5+3.7%101d
Fri, Mar 19$10-17.0%129d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 20.7% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2.57.512.517.522.53089K89K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VG open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot7.51012.51517.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3814192530199%60%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 12.52.57.512.517.522.530+$1.4M−$1.4M
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.000.002.50.00160.00-0.00-0.01
0.99-0.0050.00650.00-0.00-0.01
0.96-0.007.50.02550.00-0.01-0.05
0.83-0.01100.09680.01-0.01-0.18
0.46-0.0112.50.16790.01-0.01-0.54
0.18-0.01150.10170.01-0.01-0.82
0.08-0.0117.50.04980.01-0.01-0.93
0.04-0.00200.02520.00-0.00-0.98
0.02-0.0022.50.01350.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.00250.00760.00-0.00-1.00
0.000.00300.00270.00-0.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.58.511.514.517.522.530K0
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

spot2.5913172125111K111K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 448K call contracts, 342K 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: VG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk