Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET

PEN max pain

Spot (delayed)$321.85
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$330
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 37 strikes carrying 1,814 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$32.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 32.30 USD, 10.0% of 321.85 spot.
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±10.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI9.49
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET
How1,641 put contracts / 173 call contracts = 9.49 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 / 173 calls
Call wall$330
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET
How330.00 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$160
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET
How160.00 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
IV3017.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$668K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:24 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

Event risk before this expiration: 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$330+2.5%11d
Fri, Dec 18$350+8.7%39d
Fri, Jan 15$380+18.1%67d
Fri, Mar 19$380+18.1%130d
Fri, Apr 16$320-0.6%158d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot330160224288352416480$11M$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 — 330 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot330160195260330400470603603
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PEN 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

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot185230290350410470+$513K−$513K
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
0.99-0.022500.00060.01-0.02-0.01
0.99-0.022600.00080.01-0.03-0.01
0.99-0.032700.00130.02-0.04-0.01
0.98-0.042800.00220.03-0.05-0.02
0.97-0.052900.00400.04-0.06-0.03
0.94-0.073000.00800.07-0.07-0.06
0.88-0.103100.01930.12-0.10-0.13
0.62-0.113200.05860.21-0.12-0.39
0.13-0.073300.03000.12-0.07-0.89
0.04-0.043400.00900.06-0.04-0.97
0.02-0.033500.00390.03-0.03-0.99
0.01-0.023600.00200.02-0.02-1.00
0.01-0.023700.00120.01-0.02-1.00
0.01-0.013800.00080.01-0.02-1.00
0.00-0.013900.00050.01-0.02-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 37 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1202803303804304805690
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

spot1201602002803604403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: PEN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk