Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET

THC max pain

Spot (delayed)$289
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$260
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 37 strikes carrying 7,591 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-10.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.4
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 16.40 USD, 5.7% of 289.00 spot.
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±5.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.03
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET
How3,847 put contracts / 3,744 call contracts = 1.03 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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4K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$310
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET
How310.00 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$250
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET
How250.00 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
IV3039.6%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.3M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:18 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 ≈ $190

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$260-10.0%11d
Fri, Dec 18$240-17.0%39d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides67d
Fri, Feb 19$260-10.0%102d
Fri, May 21$280-3.1%193d
Fri, Jan 21one strike decides438d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot26095156217278339400$55M$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 — 260 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot26095145180230300370906906
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)THC 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

spot260230250270290310208208
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot155204253302351400160%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 190180200240280320360+$778K−$778K
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
0.99-0.022200.00060.01-0.03-0.01
0.99-0.032300.00110.02-0.04-0.01
0.98-0.062400.00200.03-0.07-0.02
0.95-0.102500.00380.05-0.11-0.05
0.91-0.172600.00680.08-0.17-0.09
0.83-0.252700.01150.13-0.26-0.17
0.69-0.342800.01680.18-0.34-0.31
0.51-0.382900.01930.20-0.39-0.50
0.33-0.353000.01710.18-0.35-0.68
0.20-0.273100.01250.14-0.28-0.81
0.11-0.203200.00830.10-0.20-0.90
0.07-0.143300.00530.07-0.14-0.94
0.04-0.093400.00330.04-0.10-0.97
0.03-0.073500.00210.03-0.06-0.99
0.02-0.043600.00140.02-0.05-1.00

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

spot45851251752503508210
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

spot40851251802703802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K 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: THC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk