Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET

DAC max pain

Spot (delayed)$147.16
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$140
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 25 strikes carrying 5,537 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)±$8.13
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 8.13 USD, 5.5% of 147.16 spot.
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±5.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.09
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET
How458 put contracts / 5,079 call contracts = 0.09 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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458 puts / 5K calls
Call wall$145
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET
How145.00 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$150
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET
How150.00 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
IV3029.8%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3.5M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:42 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 · flip ≈ $140

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 20$140-4.9%11d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides39d
Fri, Jan 15$150+1.9%67d
Fri, Feb 19$145-1.5%102d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides130d
Fri, Apr 16too thin158d
Fri, May 21$120-18.5%193d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1405581107133159185$18M$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 — 140 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot14055851151401653K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DAC 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot100117134151168185155%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 1406585110130150170+$2.4M−$2.4M
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
0.99-0.031100.00180.01-0.03-0.01
0.98-0.041150.00270.01-0.04-0.02
0.97-0.051200.00420.02-0.05-0.03
0.95-0.061250.00670.03-0.07-0.05
0.92-0.081300.01080.04-0.09-0.08
0.87-0.111350.01770.06-0.11-0.13
0.78-0.141400.02840.08-0.14-0.23
0.61-0.171450.04070.10-0.17-0.39
0.40-0.161500.04400.10-0.16-0.61
0.21-0.121550.03280.07-0.12-0.80
0.10-0.071600.01940.05-0.08-0.91
0.05-0.051650.01080.03-0.05-0.96
0.03-0.031700.00610.02-0.03-0.98
0.02-0.021750.00350.01-0.02-1.00
0.01-0.011800.00210.01-0.02-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot9012014016018014K0
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

spot407511014518021514K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 27K call contracts, 2K 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: DAC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk