Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET

WES max pain

Spot (delayed)$41
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$44
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 18 strikes carrying 4,455 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+7.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.95
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 3.95 USD, 9.6% of 41.00 spot.
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±9.6% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.48
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET
How1,446 put contracts / 3,009 call contracts = 0.48 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 / 3K calls
Call wall$55
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET
How55.00 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$50
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET
How50.00 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
IV3021.8%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$64K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:54 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 · flip ≈ $40

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$42+2.4%10d
Fri, Dec 18$42+2.4%38d
Fri, Jan 15$42+2.4%66d
Fri, Feb 19$44+7.3%101d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot44303540455055$2M$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 — 44 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot443037404346492K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WES 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

spot443640424447501818
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot30354045505541%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 21.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 40303740434649+$63K−$63K
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
0.98not quoted300.00610.01-0.00-0.03
0.92-0.00350.02840.03-0.01-0.12
0.90-0.00360.03790.04-0.01-0.16
0.85-0.01370.04950.04-0.01-0.21
0.80-0.01380.06270.06-0.01-0.27
0.73-0.01390.07610.07-0.01-0.35
0.65-0.01400.08740.08-0.01-0.43
0.56-0.01410.09430.08-0.01-0.52
0.47-0.01420.09540.08-0.01-0.61
0.38-0.01430.09080.08-0.01-0.69
0.30-0.01440.08190.07-0.01-0.76
0.23-0.01450.07060.06-0.01-0.81
0.17-0.01460.05890.05-0.00-0.86
0.13-0.01470.04800.04-0.00-0.89
0.10-0.00480.03850.04-0.00-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2033404448603K0
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

spot2033384348654K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 27K call contracts, 14K 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: WES workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk