Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET

USO max pain

Spot (delayed)$141.45
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$150
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 128 strikes carrying 226,019 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+6.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.88
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 8.88 USD, 6.3% of 141.45 spot.
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±6.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.65
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET
How89,076 put contracts / 136,943 call contracts = 0.65 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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89K puts / 137K calls
Call wall$200
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET
How200.00 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$110
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET
How110.00 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
IV3049.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3.4M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 9:47 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 ≈ $167

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Wed, Nov 11$146+3.2%1d
Fri, Nov 13$150+6.0%3d
Wed, Nov 18$148+4.6%8d
Fri, Nov 20$150+6.0%10d
Fri, Nov 27$154+8.9%17d
Fri, Dec 18$140-1.0%38d
Fri, Jan 15$126-10.9%66d
Fri, Feb 19$150+6.0%101d
Fri, Mar 19$153+8.2%129d
Fri, Apr 16$145+2.5%157d
Fri, May 21$150+6.0%192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15075123171219267315$1.8B$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 — 150 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1507512514515516720028K28K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)USO open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20. Showing the 60 largest of 128 strikes by open interest, 92.9% of the total.

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

spot150120134144149157.51804K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed). Showing the 56 largest of 106 strikes by volume, 97.2% of the total.

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot75123171219267315161%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 16785126146156168205+$7.3M−$7.3M
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
0.92-0.091260.01260.04-0.09-0.08
0.86-0.131300.01940.05-0.13-0.14
0.79-0.161330.02530.07-0.16-0.21
0.76-0.171340.02730.07-0.17-0.24
0.73-0.181350.02910.08-0.18-0.27
0.70-0.191360.03080.08-0.20-0.30
0.67-0.201370.03240.09-0.20-0.33
0.57-0.221400.03530.09-0.22-0.43
0.46-0.231430.03530.09-0.23-0.54
0.40-0.221450.03370.09-0.22-0.60
0.36-0.221460.03260.09-0.22-0.64
0.34-0.211470.03130.09-0.21-0.67
0.31-0.211480.02990.08-0.21-0.69
0.28-0.201490.02840.08-0.20-0.72
0.26-0.201500.02680.08-0.20-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot110139148158172192.511K0
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

spot2510013314816322576K76K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 732K call contracts, 909K 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: USO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk