Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET

DUG max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.1
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$12
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 9 strikes carrying 216 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-20.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.48
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 1.48 USD, 9.8% of 15.10 spot.
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±9.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.12
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET
How23 put contracts / 193 call contracts = 0.12 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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23 puts / 193 calls
Call wall$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET
How20.00 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$13
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET
How13.00 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
IV3057.8%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 5:25 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

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$12-20.5%10d
Fri, Dec 18too thin38d
Fri, Jan 15$13-13.9%66d
Fri, Apr 16$10-33.8%157d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12101214161820$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 — 12 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot121012141620100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DUG 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

spot101214161820190%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 70.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot10131517+$2K−$2K
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
0.94-0.02100.02680.00-0.02-0.06
0.93-0.02110.03980.00-0.02-0.07
0.90-0.02120.06170.01-0.02-0.10
0.85-0.02130.10180.01-0.03-0.15
0.75-0.03140.17780.01-0.03-0.26
0.54-0.03150.25180.01-0.03-0.47
0.33-0.03160.19680.01-0.03-0.67
0.23-0.03170.13580.01-0.03-0.78
0.11-0.03200.05880.01-0.03-0.89

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

spot10131619223590
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

spot3813182328359359
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 60 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: DUG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk