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, Mar 19$240
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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 2027-03-19 expiration, over 38 strikes carrying 787 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-8.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$50.2
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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 2027-03-19 expiration = 50.20 USD, 19.2% of 261.55 spot.
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±19.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.02
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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
How398 put contracts / 389 call contracts = 1.02 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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398 puts / 389 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 2027-03-19 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$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 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
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+$65K
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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 2027-03-19 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 ≈ $110

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

spot24090146202258314370$4M$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 — 240 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot240901351702102803507070
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WSM open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot24012015015516017018011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot9014620225831437093%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 11090135170210280350+$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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.041950.00250.29-0.05-0.11
0.88-0.052000.00280.32-0.06-0.12
0.84-0.062100.00340.38-0.07-0.16
0.80-0.072200.00410.43-0.07-0.20
0.75-0.072300.00480.49-0.08-0.25
0.70-0.082400.00530.54-0.09-0.30
0.64-0.092500.00580.58-0.09-0.36
0.58-0.092600.00620.61-0.10-0.43
0.52-0.092700.00640.62-0.10-0.49
0.46-0.092800.00640.61-0.09-0.56
0.40-0.092900.00630.60-0.09-0.62
0.34-0.093000.00600.57-0.09-0.68
0.29-0.083100.00560.53-0.08-0.73
0.24-0.073200.00520.49-0.07-0.78
0.20-0.073300.00470.44-0.07-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 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