Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET

XOM max pain

Spot (delayed)$169.07
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$180
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 24 strikes carrying 15,142 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+6.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.1
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 22.10 USD, 13.1% of 169.07 spot.
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±13.1% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.43
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET
How4,565 put contracts / 10,577 call contracts = 0.43 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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5K puts / 11K calls
Call wall$210
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET
How210.00 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$160
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET
How160.00 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
IV3031.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.2M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 3:49 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 ≈ $120

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · 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 6$177.5+5.0%2d
Fri, Nov 13$182.5+7.9%9d
Fri, Nov 20$165-2.4%16d
Fri, Nov 27$175+3.5%23d
Fri, Dec 4$180+6.5%30d
Fri, Dec 11$180+6.5%37d
Fri, Dec 18$145-14.2%44d
Fri, Jan 15$145-14.2%72d
Fri, Feb 19$180+6.5%107d
Fri, Mar 19$155-8.3%135d
Fri, Apr 16$170+0.6%163d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot180110138166194222250$56M$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 — 180 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot1801101301501701902204K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XOM 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

spot1801101401601802001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot11013816619422225039%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 120110130150170190220+$763K−$763K
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
0.92-0.011350.00510.14-0.02-0.09
0.89-0.021400.00660.18-0.03-0.13
0.85-0.031450.00830.22-0.03-0.17
0.80-0.031500.01000.26-0.04-0.22
0.74-0.041550.01170.29-0.04-0.28
0.68-0.041600.01310.32-0.05-0.34
0.60-0.051650.01420.35-0.05-0.41
0.53-0.051700.01480.36-0.05-0.48
0.46-0.051750.01490.36-0.05-0.55
0.39-0.051800.01450.35-0.04-0.62
0.32-0.041850.01360.33-0.04-0.69
0.27-0.041900.01240.30-0.04-0.75
0.21-0.041950.01100.27-0.03-0.81
0.17-0.032000.00960.23-0.03-0.86
0.11-0.022100.00690.17-0.01-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot75120155177.520022518K0
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

spot5010014817019522073K73K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 670K call contracts, 439K 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: XOM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk