Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET

WSM max pain

Spot (delayed)$261.55
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$220
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-01-15 expiration, over 43 strikes carrying 3,519 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-15.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$36.2
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-01-15 expiration = 36.20 USD, 13.8% of 261.55 spot.
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±13.8% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.82
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
How1,582 put contracts / 1,937 call contracts = 0.82 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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2K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$300
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
How300.00 for the 2027-01-15 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$200
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
How200.00 for the 2027-01-15 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3048.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$423K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 4:24 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-01-15 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 ≈ $250

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$240-8.2%10d
Fri, Dec 18$220-15.9%38d
Fri, Jan 15$220-15.9%66d
Fri, Feb 19$240-8.2%101d
Fri, Mar 19$240-8.2%129d
Fri, May 21too thin192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22070130190250310370$22M$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 — 220 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot22070110150190260340556556
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WSM open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot22017525027028022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot70130190250310370155%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 250115145175210270330+$274K−$274K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.041950.00210.12-0.05-0.06
0.93-0.042000.00250.15-0.05-0.07
0.90-0.062100.00350.20-0.07-0.10
0.85-0.082200.00460.25-0.09-0.15
0.80-0.102300.00590.32-0.10-0.21
0.73-0.112400.00710.37-0.12-0.28
0.65-0.132500.00800.41-0.13-0.35
0.57-0.132600.00870.44-0.13-0.44
0.48-0.132700.00890.44-0.13-0.53
0.39-0.132800.00870.42-0.13-0.61
0.31-0.122900.00810.39-0.12-0.69
0.24-0.103000.00720.35-0.10-0.77
0.19-0.093100.00620.30-0.09-0.83
0.14-0.073200.00510.25-0.07-0.88
0.10-0.063300.00410.20-0.06-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 43 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot701151551952703501K0
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

spot701101501902603401K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 6K 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: WSM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk