Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET

PRLB max pain

Spot (delayed)$69.5
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$80
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 12 strikes carrying 410 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+15.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.15
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 6.15 USD, 8.8% of 69.50 spot.
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±8.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.14
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET
How51 put contracts / 359 call contracts = 0.14 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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51 puts / 359 calls
Call wall$95
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET
How95.00 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$65
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET
How65.00 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
IV3054.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:47 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 ≈ $85

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$80+15.1%11d
Fri, Dec 18too thin39d
Fri, Jan 15$70+0.7%67d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides102d
Fri, Apr 16$85+22.3%158d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot8060718293104115$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 — 80 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot8060708090100110164164
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PRLB 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

spot806065758510511544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot60718293104115200%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 8560708090100110+$6K−$6K
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
0.88-0.08600.02280.03-0.08-0.13
0.72-0.12650.04180.04-0.12-0.28
0.48-0.14700.05110.05-0.14-0.52
0.26-0.12750.04040.04-0.12-0.74
0.15-0.09800.02550.03-0.09-0.86
0.09-0.07850.01620.02-0.07-0.91
0.06-0.06900.01080.01-0.06-0.94
0.04-0.05950.00760.01-0.05-0.96
0.03-0.041000.00570.01-0.04-0.97
0.03-0.041050.00440.01-0.03-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 12 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot356075901051201920
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

spot35557595115135426426
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 528 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: PRLB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk