Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET

C max pain

Spot (delayed)$119.19
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$125
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 52 strikes carrying 139,645 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+4.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.44
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 6.44 USD, 5.4% of 119.19 spot.
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±5.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.69
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
How87,809 put contracts / 51,836 call contracts = 1.69 for the 2026-11-20 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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88K puts / 52K calls
Call wall$130
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
How130.00 for the 2026-11-20 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$110
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
How110.00 for the 2026-11-20 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3031.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$19.0M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 8:18 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-11-20 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

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 13$122+2.4%5d
Fri, Nov 20$125+4.9%12d
Fri, Nov 27$125+4.9%19d
Fri, Dec 4$123+3.2%26d
Fri, Dec 11$122+2.4%33d
Fri, Dec 18$120+0.7%40d
Fri, Jan 15$110-7.7%68d
Fri, Feb 19$125+4.9%103d
Fri, Mar 19$125+4.9%131d
Fri, Apr 16$125+4.9%159d
Fri, May 21one strike decides194d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1255584113142171200$476M$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 — 125 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1255510011912813717043K43K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)C open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot125801131191251311392K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot5584113142171200128%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot60105120129138175+$14.8M−$14.8M
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.071100.02410.05-0.07-0.14
0.78-0.091130.03360.07-0.10-0.22
0.74-0.101140.03690.07-0.10-0.26
0.71-0.111150.04020.08-0.11-0.29
0.67-0.111160.04320.09-0.11-0.34
0.62-0.111170.04580.09-0.11-0.38
0.58-0.121180.04790.09-0.12-0.43
0.53-0.121190.04940.09-0.12-0.48
0.48-0.111200.05010.09-0.12-0.53
0.43-0.111210.05010.09-0.11-0.58
0.38-0.101220.04920.09-0.11-0.63
0.33-0.101230.04750.09-0.10-0.68
0.28-0.091240.04490.08-0.09-0.73
0.23-0.081250.04170.07-0.08-0.77
0.19-0.071260.03780.07-0.07-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 52 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot701121211301391609K0
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

spot3057.582.511513018083K83K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 433K call contracts, 647K 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: C workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk