Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET

MULL max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.92
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 22 strikes carrying 21,427 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+34.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 3.50 USD, 23.5% of 14.92 spot.
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±23.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.37
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How5,837 put contracts / 15,590 call contracts = 0.37 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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6K puts / 16K calls
Call wall$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 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 call OI
Put wall$20
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
How20.00 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
IV30118.0%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$34K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 10:47 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 ≈ $23

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$20+34.0%17d
Fri, Dec 18$17.2+15.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15$12.6-15.6%73d
Fri, Mar 19$13-12.9%136d
Thu, Jun 17$24.8+66.2%226d
Fri, Jan 21$15+0.5%444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2091419253035$15M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot20914182226303K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MULL 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

spot20101418222630545545
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot91419253035200%98%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 132.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2391418222630+$14K−$14K
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
0.94-0.0290.02300.00-0.02-0.07
0.90-0.02100.03340.01-0.03-0.10
0.80-0.04120.06180.01-0.04-0.20
0.72-0.04130.07740.01-0.04-0.28
0.64-0.04140.09050.01-0.04-0.37
0.54-0.04150.09810.01-0.04-0.47
0.44-0.04160.09880.01-0.04-0.56
0.36-0.04170.09330.01-0.04-0.65
0.28-0.04180.08410.01-0.04-0.72
0.22-0.03190.07340.01-0.03-0.78
0.18-0.03200.06270.01-0.03-0.83
0.14-0.03210.05310.01-0.03-0.86
0.11-0.02220.04470.01-0.02-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot412.416.8222937.88K0
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

spot41015.22331.64013K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 113K call contracts, 46K 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: MULL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk