Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET

ILF max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.25
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$34
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 17 strikes carrying 6,233 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+5.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.8
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 1.80 USD, 5.6% of 32.25 spot.
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±5.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.24
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET
How1,215 put contracts / 5,018 call contracts = 0.24 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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1K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$40
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET
How40.00 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$36
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET
How36.00 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
IV3027.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$238K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 6:29 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 ≈ $29

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$34+5.4%17d
Fri, Dec 18$34+5.4%45d
Fri, Mar 19$35+8.5%136d
Thu, Jun 17one strike decides226d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot34263033374044$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 — 34 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot342631343740431K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ILF 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

spot34323334394033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot263033374044105%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 29263134374043+$155K−$155K
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
0.95-0.01260.02340.01-0.01-0.05
0.87-0.02290.06570.01-0.02-0.13
0.81-0.02300.09640.02-0.02-0.18
0.72-0.02310.14040.02-0.02-0.28
0.56-0.02320.18500.03-0.02-0.43
0.38-0.02330.18460.03-0.02-0.62
0.23-0.02340.13930.02-0.02-0.77
0.15-0.02350.09600.02-0.01-0.85
0.10-0.01360.06670.01-0.01-0.90
0.07-0.01370.04770.01-0.01-0.93
0.06-0.01380.03530.01-0.01-0.95
0.04-0.01390.02680.01-0.01-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2531353943502K0
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

spot25303540452K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K 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: ILF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk