Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET

RY max pain

Spot (delayed)$204.57
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$200
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 16 strikes carrying 5,671 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-2.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 9.35 USD, 4.6% of 204.57 spot.
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±4.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.54
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET
How1,986 put contracts / 3,685 call contracts = 0.54 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 / 4K calls
Call wall$220
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET
How220.00 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$190
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET
How190.00 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
IV3021.1%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.5M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 8:29 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 ≈ $210

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$200-2.2%17d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides45d
Fri, Jan 15$200-2.2%73d
Fri, Apr 16$185-9.6%164d
Fri, Jan 21$175-14.5%444d
Fri, Jan 19$170-16.9%808d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot200145168191214237260$18M$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 — 200 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2001451651801952202602K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RY 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

spot2002002102207979
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot15017219421623826094%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 23.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 210145165180195220260+$863K−$863K
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
0.99-0.011650.00120.01-0.01-0.01
0.99-0.011700.00190.02-0.01-0.01
0.98-0.021750.00310.02-0.02-0.02
0.96-0.031800.00510.04-0.03-0.04
0.94-0.041850.00850.05-0.04-0.06
0.90-0.061900.01420.08-0.06-0.10
0.82-0.081950.02300.12-0.08-0.18
0.69-0.102000.03400.16-0.10-0.31
0.30-0.092100.03750.16-0.09-0.71
0.07-0.042200.01430.07-0.04-0.95
0.02-0.012300.00400.02-0.03-1.00
0.01-0.002400.00120.01-0.03-1.00
0.00-0.002600.00010.00-0.03-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot901251501752002506K0
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

spot60951301652002706K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K 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: RY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk