Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET

ECH max pain

Spot (delayed)$36.48
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$38
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 20 strikes carrying 6,751 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+4.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.08
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 2.08 USD, 5.7% of 36.48 spot.
Open the source document →
±5.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI7.86
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET
How5,989 put contracts / 762 call contracts = 7.86 for the 2026-11-20 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
6K puts / 762 calls
Call wall$50
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET
How50.00 for the 2026-11-20 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$35
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET
How35.00 for the 2026-11-20 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3032.9%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$918K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:14 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$38+4.2%10d
Fri, Dec 18$30-17.8%38d
Fri, Feb 19$39+6.9%101d
Fri, May 21$29-20.5%192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot38303540455055$3M$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 — 38 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3830353943476K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ECH 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

spot303540455055136%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3035394347+$898K−$898K
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
0.94-0.02300.02460.01-0.03-0.06
0.92-0.03310.03280.01-0.03-0.08
0.86-0.03330.06130.01-0.04-0.14
0.81-0.04340.08570.02-0.04-0.19
0.73-0.04350.11910.02-0.04-0.27
0.60-0.04360.15600.02-0.04-0.40
0.44-0.04370.17170.03-0.04-0.57
0.28-0.04380.14660.02-0.04-0.73
0.18-0.03390.10650.02-0.03-0.84
0.12-0.02400.07400.01-0.02-0.90
0.08-0.02410.05170.01-0.02-0.94
0.06-0.01420.03700.01-0.02-0.96
0.04-0.01430.02710.01-0.01-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2533374145496K0
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

spot2531364146516K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 6K 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: ECH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk