Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 11:36 PM ET

SMPL max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.24
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 11:36 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$12.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 11:36 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 9 strikes carrying 1,895 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)±$1.05
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 11:36 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 1.05 USD, 8.6% of 12.24 spot.
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±8.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.77
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 11:36 PM ET
How1,212 put contracts / 683 call contracts = 1.77 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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1K puts / 683 calls
Call wall$12.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 11:36 PM ET
How12.50 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$10
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 11:36 PM ET
How10.00 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
IV3048.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 11:36 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, 11:36 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 ≈ $7.5

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$12.5+2.1%10d
Fri, Dec 18too thin38d
Fri, Feb 19$12.5+2.1%101d
Fri, May 21too thin192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.53814192530$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot12.52.57.512.517.5301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SMPL 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

spot81013151820175%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 60.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 7.55101520+$8K−$8K
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
1.000.002.50.00070.00-0.00-0.00
0.99-0.0050.00290.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.007.50.01140.00-0.01-0.01
0.94-0.01100.05840.00-0.01-0.06
0.56-0.0212.50.34730.01-0.02-0.44
0.11-0.01150.11120.00-0.01-0.89
0.04-0.0117.50.03810.00-0.01-0.96
0.02-0.01200.01770.00-0.01-0.98
0.00-0.00300.00270.00-0.00-1.00

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

spot2.57.512.517.5307100
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 2K 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: SMPL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk