Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET

IWB max pain

Spot (delayed)$412.26
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$415
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 38 strikes carrying 2,099 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+0.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.9
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 10.90 USD, 2.6% of 412.26 spot.
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±2.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.08
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
How159 put contracts / 1,940 call contracts = 0.08 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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159 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$430
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
How430.00 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$415
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
How415.00 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
IV3017.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4.8M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 8:01 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 ≈ $285

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$415+0.7%10d
Fri, Dec 18$350-15.1%38d
Fri, Feb 19$420+1.9%101d
Fri, May 21$415+0.7%192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot415255299343387431475$9M$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 — 415 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot415255320360395430465914914
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IWB 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

spot4153054154254302020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot33536339141944747571%15%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 18.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 285255320360400435470+$2.5M−$2.5M
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
0.94-0.143750.00480.09-0.14-0.06
0.92-0.153800.00600.11-0.16-0.08
0.90-0.173850.00780.13-0.18-0.10
0.87-0.203900.01010.15-0.20-0.13
0.83-0.223950.01320.18-0.22-0.17
0.77-0.244000.01740.22-0.24-0.23
0.69-0.254050.02250.25-0.25-0.31
0.57-0.254100.02780.28-0.25-0.42
0.43-0.234150.03060.28-0.23-0.57
0.28-0.194200.02720.24-0.19-0.72
0.16-0.144250.01990.18-0.14-0.84
0.10-0.104300.01310.13-0.10-0.91
0.06-0.074350.00850.09-0.07-0.94
0.04-0.054400.00560.06-0.05-0.96
0.03-0.044450.00380.05-0.04-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2053053503904304702K0
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

spot1802403003604204802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 2K 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: IWB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk