Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET

TMF max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.88
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$28
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 39 strikes carrying 35,823 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
-6.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.42
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 2.42 USD, 8.1% of 29.88 spot.
Open the source document →
±8.1% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.59
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
How13,259 put contracts / 22,564 call contracts = 0.59 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 →
13K puts / 23K calls
Call wall$30
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
How30.00 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 call OI
Put wall$28
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
How28.00 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
IV3038.2%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$509K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:34 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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 6$28-6.3%3d
Fri, Nov 13$28-6.3%10d
Fri, Nov 20$28-6.3%17d
Fri, Nov 27$26.5-11.3%24d
Fri, Dec 4$29-2.9%31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18$28-6.3%45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Feb 19one strike decides108d
Fri, May 21$26-13.0%199d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot28202632384450$41M$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot28202629.53339463K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TMF 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

spot28252829.53132.539290290
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot202632384450146%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 25202629.5333946+$328K−$328K
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
0.90-0.0126.50.05490.01-0.01-0.10
0.88-0.02270.06800.01-0.02-0.12
0.84-0.0227.50.08330.02-0.02-0.16
0.80-0.02280.09990.02-0.02-0.20
0.75-0.0228.50.11660.02-0.02-0.26
0.68-0.03290.13160.02-0.03-0.32
0.61-0.0329.50.14270.03-0.03-0.39
0.54-0.03300.14810.03-0.03-0.46
0.47-0.0330.50.14720.03-0.03-0.54
0.40-0.03310.14070.03-0.03-0.61
0.34-0.0331.50.13030.02-0.03-0.67
0.28-0.03320.11780.02-0.03-0.72
0.24-0.0332.50.10480.02-0.03-0.77
0.20-0.02330.09210.02-0.02-0.81
0.17-0.0233.50.08050.02-0.02-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 39 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot202629.53339464K0
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

spot1524.531.542567015K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 141K call contracts, 97K 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: TMF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk