Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET

PALL max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.85
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$19
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 17 strikes carrying 3,300 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+0.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.2
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 1.20 USD, 6.4% of 18.85 spot.
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±6.4% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.03
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET
How1,672 put contracts / 1,628 call contracts = 1.03 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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2K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$22
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET
How22.00 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$14
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET
How14.00 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
IV3039.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:03 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 ≈ $25

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$19+0.8%10d
Fri, Dec 18$21+11.4%38d
Fri, Mar 19$20+6.1%129d
Thu, Jun 17one strike decides219d
Fri, Jan 21$19+0.8%437d
Fri, Jan 19one strike decides801d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot19141822252933$2M$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 — 19 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot19141720232630500500
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PALL 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

spot19171921243333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot141720242730181%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 25141720232630+$15K−$15K
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
0.99-0.00140.01010.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.00150.02260.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.01160.05180.00-0.01-0.05
0.89-0.01170.11620.01-0.01-0.11
0.73-0.02180.22190.01-0.02-0.27
0.47-0.03190.27280.01-0.03-0.53
0.25-0.02200.20270.01-0.02-0.76
0.13-0.02210.12060.01-0.02-0.88
0.07-0.01220.06960.00-0.01-0.94
0.04-0.01230.04140.00-0.01-0.96
0.03-0.01240.02570.00-0.01-0.98
0.02-0.00250.01670.00-0.00-0.99
0.01-0.00260.01120.00-0.00-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 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

spot132326.428.430.4365K0
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

spot102126.228.430.6375K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 25K call contracts, 10K 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: PALL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk