Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 6:28 PM ET

SQM max pain

Spot (delayed)$57
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:28 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.1
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:28 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 4.10 USD, 7.2% of 57.00 spot.
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±7.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.31
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:28 PM ET
How304 put contracts / 967 call contracts = 0.31 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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304 puts / 967 calls
Call wall$55
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:28 PM ET
How55.00 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$60
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:28 PM ET
How60.00 for the 2026-11-20 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3041.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:28 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$92K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 6:28 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 ≈ $55

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 8.8% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Dec 18$60+5.3%38d
Fri, Jan 15$70+22.8%66d
Fri, Apr 16$65+14.0%157d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 8.8% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot4552.56067.57585458458
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SQM 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

spot50606567.566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot455463728190197%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 554552.56067.57585+$83K−$83K
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
0.96-0.03450.01140.01-0.03-0.04
0.93-0.0447.50.01860.01-0.04-0.07
0.89-0.06500.03060.02-0.06-0.12
0.80-0.0752.50.04920.03-0.07-0.20
0.66-0.09550.07010.04-0.09-0.35
0.47-0.1057.50.07730.04-0.10-0.54
0.30-0.09600.06490.04-0.09-0.71
0.19-0.0762.50.04720.03-0.07-0.82
0.13-0.06650.03290.02-0.06-0.89
0.09-0.0567.50.02290.01-0.05-0.93
0.06-0.04700.01630.01-0.04-0.96
0.04-0.0372.50.01180.01-0.03-0.97
0.03-0.02750.00880.01-0.02-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot32.55570851001301K0
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

spot22.54057.57592.51202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 12K 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: SQM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk