Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 7:42 PM ET

ESI max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.14
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 29 strikes carrying 46,808 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.88
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 2.88 USD, 8.4% of 34.14 spot.
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±8.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.48
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 PM ET
How15,284 put contracts / 31,524 call contracts = 0.48 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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15K puts / 32K calls
Call wall$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 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.
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largest call OI
Put wall$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 PM ET
How30.00 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
IV3046.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.2M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:42 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 ≈ $35

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · 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$35+2.5%17d
Fri, Dec 18$35+2.5%45d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides108d
Fri, May 21too thin199d
Fri, Jan 21too thin444d
Fri, Jan 19too thin808d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35182737465665$84M$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3517.530354045509K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ESI 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

spot243138465360180%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 3517.53035404550+$955K−$955K
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
0.98-0.00250.00790.00-0.01-0.02
0.94-0.01280.02570.01-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.02290.03680.01-0.02-0.09
0.87-0.02300.05100.02-0.02-0.13
0.81-0.03310.06780.02-0.03-0.19
0.74-0.03320.08510.03-0.04-0.26
0.64-0.04330.09970.03-0.04-0.36
0.54-0.04340.10790.03-0.04-0.46
0.43-0.04350.10770.03-0.04-0.57
0.33-0.04360.09950.03-0.04-0.67
0.24-0.03370.08580.02-0.03-0.76
0.18-0.03380.06990.02-0.03-0.83
0.12-0.02390.05460.02-0.02-0.88
0.09-0.02400.04140.01-0.02-0.92
0.06-0.01410.03070.01-0.01-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.5253541476515K0
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

spot12.5233037445515K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 45K call contracts, 20K 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: ESI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk