Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 12:56 PM ET

VZLA max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.27
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 12:56 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.63
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 12:56 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-18 expiration = 0.63 USD, 19.1% of 3.27 spot.
Open the source document →
±19.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.77
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 12:56 PM ET
How27,303 put contracts / 35,654 call contracts = 0.77 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 →
27K puts / 36K calls
Call wall$5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 12:56 PM ET
How5.00 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$5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 12:56 PM ET
How5.00 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
IV3065.8%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 12:56 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 12:56 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 ≈ $2

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 30.6% 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 20$3.5+7.2%10d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides66d
Fri, Apr 16$4+22.5%157d
Fri, Dec 17$2.5-23.4%402d
Fri, Jan 21$2.5-23.4%437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 30.6% 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

spot134.5612.514K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VZLA 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

spot2.533.52626
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13681013242%63%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2134.5612.5+$25K−$25K
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
0.98-0.0010.02480.00-0.00-0.03
0.92-0.0020.11050.00-0.00-0.09
0.85-0.002.50.22670.00-0.00-0.15
0.70-0.0030.45270.00-0.00-0.31
0.44-0.003.50.56030.00-0.00-0.58
0.26-0.0040.39850.00-0.00-0.75
0.18-0.004.50.27680.00-0.00-0.84
0.14-0.0050.20430.00-0.00-0.88
0.11-0.005.50.15870.00-0.00-0.91
0.09-0.0060.12810.00-0.00-0.93
0.06-0.007.50.07810.00-0.00-0.96
0.04-0.00100.04450.00-0.00-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot0.523.557.547K0
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

spot0.523.55712.566K66K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 169K call contracts, 43K 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: VZLA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk