Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET

DBO max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.12
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$24
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 15 strikes carrying 772 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+3.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.73
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 1.73 USD, 7.5% of 23.12 spot.
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±7.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET
How126 put contracts / 646 call contracts = 0.20 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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126 puts / 646 calls
Call wall$29
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET
How29.00 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$19
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET
How19.00 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
IV3049.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$20K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:08 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 ≈ $21

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$24+3.8%10d
Fri, Dec 18$23-0.5%38d
Fri, Jan 15$21-9.2%66d
Fri, Apr 16one strike decides157d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot24182124262932$1M$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 — 24 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot241821242730208208
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DBO 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

spot202224262830199%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 211821242730+$7K−$7K
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
0.98-0.00180.01430.00-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.01190.02760.00-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.01200.05460.01-0.01-0.06
0.86-0.02210.10200.01-0.02-0.14
0.73-0.03220.15880.01-0.03-0.27
0.55-0.04230.18720.02-0.04-0.46
0.37-0.04240.17170.01-0.04-0.63
0.24-0.03250.13340.01-0.03-0.77
0.15-0.03260.09430.01-0.03-0.86
0.09-0.02270.06330.01-0.02-0.92
0.05-0.01280.04130.00-0.01-0.95
0.03-0.01290.02660.00-0.01-0.97
0.02-0.01300.01690.00-0.01-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot410162126313810
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

spot3915212733385385
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 1K 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: DBO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk