Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET

FTEC max pain

Spot (delayed)$267.23
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$290
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 21 strikes carrying 412 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.85
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 13.85 USD, 5.2% of 267.23 spot.
Open the source document →
±5.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.22
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET
How75 put contracts / 337 call contracts = 0.22 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 →
75 puts / 337 calls
Call wall$310
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET
How310.00 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$290
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET
How290.00 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
IV3031.9%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$20K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 9:12 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 · flip ≈ $310

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$290+8.5%10d
Fri, Dec 18$265-0.8%38d
Fri, Mar 19$285+6.6%129d
Thu, Jun 17$260-2.7%219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot290200228256284312340$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 — 290 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot290200255275295315340104104
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FTEC 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

spot290250270285300315158158
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot200228256284312340106%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 310200255275295315340+$23K−$23K
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
0.97-0.112000.00160.03-0.11-0.03
0.87-0.252400.00810.10-0.25-0.13
0.84-0.272450.01010.11-0.27-0.16
0.80-0.292500.01260.13-0.29-0.20
0.74-0.312550.01570.15-0.31-0.26
0.66-0.322600.01920.17-0.32-0.34
0.56-0.322650.02250.18-0.32-0.44
0.44-0.302700.02430.18-0.29-0.56
0.32-0.252750.02320.17-0.25-0.68
0.21-0.202800.01920.13-0.19-0.79
0.13-0.142850.01420.10-0.14-0.87
0.08-0.102900.00980.07-0.10-0.91
0.05-0.082950.00680.05-0.07-0.94
0.04-0.063000.00460.04-0.05-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1602252602953303703K0
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

spot1301852252803353903K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 4K 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: FTEC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk