Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET

DY max pain

Spot (delayed)$220.99
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$250
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 40 strikes carrying 6,014 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+13.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$21.15
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 21.15 USD, 9.6% of 220.99 spot.
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±9.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.63
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET
How2,316 put contracts / 3,698 call contracts = 0.63 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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2K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$280
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET
How280.00 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$200
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET
How200.00 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
IV3073.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$353K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:54 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 ≈ $175

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$250+13.1%11d
Fri, Dec 18$270+22.2%39d
Fri, Jan 15too thin67d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides130d
Thu, Jun 17$290+31.2%220d
Fri, Jul 16$230+4.1%249d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot250155228301374447520$78M$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 — 250 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot250155195260330400480925925
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DY 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

spot2501802002202402603001212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot155228301374447520259%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 69.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 175155185220270320370+$284K−$284K
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
0.94-0.211750.00400.04-0.20-0.07
0.92-0.251800.00500.05-0.24-0.09
0.89-0.291850.00620.07-0.28-0.12
0.86-0.341900.00740.09-0.33-0.15
0.82-0.391950.00880.10-0.38-0.19
0.77-0.442000.01020.12-0.43-0.23
0.65-0.512100.01270.14-0.50-0.35
0.52-0.542200.01390.15-0.53-0.48
0.38-0.502300.01340.14-0.49-0.62
0.26-0.422400.01140.12-0.42-0.73
0.17-0.332500.00890.10-0.32-0.82
0.11-0.242600.00650.07-0.24-0.88
0.07-0.172700.00450.05-0.17-0.92
0.04-0.122800.00310.04-0.12-0.95
0.03-0.092900.00210.03-0.08-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 40 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1602403404405407202K0
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

spot1001702804205607502K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 5K 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: DY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk