Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 6:53 PM ET

OSPN max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.99
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:53 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$22.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:53 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 7 strikes carrying 795 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-2.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.08
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:53 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 2.08 USD, 9.0% of 22.99 spot.
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±9.0% 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 9, 6:53 PM ET
How259 put contracts / 536 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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259 puts / 536 calls
Call wall$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:53 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 9, 6:53 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
IV3049.9%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:53 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$11K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:53 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 ≈ $15

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$22.5-2.1%10d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides38d
Fri, Mar 19$15-34.8%129d
Fri, May 21too thin192d
Thu, Jun 17$12.5-45.6%219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.5101418222630$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot22.51017.522.530261261
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OSPN 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

spot151821242730250%57%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 151517.52022.52530+$7K−$7K
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
1.00-0.01100.00050.00-0.01-0.01
0.99-0.01150.01010.00-0.02-0.04
0.97-0.0217.50.03320.00-0.02-0.07
0.90-0.03200.10310.01-0.03-0.16
0.50-0.0422.50.23320.01-0.04-0.52
0.18-0.03250.10180.01-0.03-0.81
0.06-0.02300.02940.01-0.02-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.57.512.517.522.5304K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5304K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 456 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: OSPN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk