Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET

VALE max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.49
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$14
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 28 strikes carrying 175,679 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+21.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.75
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 0.75 USD, 6.6% of 11.49 spot.
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±6.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.17
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET
How25,951 put contracts / 149,728 call contracts = 0.17 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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26K puts / 150K calls
Call wall$18
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET
How18.00 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$13
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET
How13.00 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
IV3036.5%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$146K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 9:01 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 ≈ $10

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 6one strike decides3d
Fri, Nov 13$12.5+8.8%10d
Fri, Nov 20$14+21.9%17d
Fri, Nov 27one strike decides24d
Fri, Dec 4$11.5+0.1%31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18$14+21.9%45d
Fri, Jan 15one strike decides73d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides136d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot141611152025$119M$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 — 14 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1411012.51517.52187K87K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VALE 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

spot1410.511.512.5141618980980
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot71012151720130%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 10110.51315.518+$170K−$170K
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
1.00not quoted20.0003not quoted0.00-0.00
0.99-0.0070.01030.00-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.0090.04780.00-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.009.50.07900.00-0.00-0.05
0.92-0.00100.14050.00-0.01-0.08
0.83-0.0110.50.25530.01-0.01-0.17
0.67-0.01110.38150.01-0.01-0.33
0.47-0.0111.50.41740.01-0.01-0.54
0.27-0.01120.35370.01-0.01-0.73
0.13-0.0112.50.23180.01-0.01-0.88
0.06-0.00130.12430.00-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.0013.50.06520.00-0.00-0.99
0.02-0.00140.04050.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.0014.50.02930.00-0.00-1.00
0.01-0.00150.02280.00-0.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot191215182587K0
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

spot17.511.515.519.527210K210K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 886K call contracts, 856K 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: VALE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk