Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 8:53 PM ET

DFIN max pain

Spot (delayed)$67.58
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:53 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$55
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:53 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 7 strikes carrying 493 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-18.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.98
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:53 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 5.98 USD, 8.8% of 67.58 spot.
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±8.8% 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, 8:53 PM ET
How82 put contracts / 411 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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82 puts / 411 calls
Call wall$65
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:53 PM ET
How65.00 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$25
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:53 PM ET
How25.00 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
IV3036.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:53 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$118K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:53 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 ≈ $55

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$55-18.6%11d
Fri, Dec 18too thin39d
Fri, Jan 15too thin67d
Fri, Apr 16$60-11.2%158d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55253443526170$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot5525506070391391
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DFIN 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

spot253443526170224%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 5525506070+$116K−$116K
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
1.00-0.01250.00040.00-0.01-0.00
0.99-0.02400.00210.00-0.02-0.01
0.96-0.04500.00680.01-0.04-0.04
0.94-0.05550.01320.01-0.05-0.06
0.87-0.07600.02810.02-0.07-0.13
0.71-0.08650.06520.04-0.08-0.29
0.30-0.07700.08160.04-0.07-0.70

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4050556065703910
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

spot203045607590393393
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 714 call contracts, 130 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: DFIN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk