Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 4:32 PM ET

VMC max pain

Spot (delayed)$289.44
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:32 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, 4:32 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 35 strikes carrying 3,823 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.3
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:32 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 14.30 USD, 4.9% of 289.44 spot.
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±4.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.32
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:32 PM ET
How930 put contracts / 2,893 call contracts = 0.32 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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930 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$280
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:32 PM ET
How280.00 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$280
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:32 PM ET
How280.00 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
IV3030.8%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:32 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.0M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 4:32 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 ≈ $260

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$260-10.2%11d
Fri, Dec 18$280-3.3%39d
Fri, Jan 15$250-13.6%67d
Fri, Feb 19$270-6.7%102d
Fri, May 21$250-13.6%193d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot260155220285350415480$51M$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

spot260155195250310370430826826
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VMC 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

spot26027028029030036077
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot195246297348399450137%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 260155195250310370430+$868K−$868K
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
0.98-0.072200.00120.02-0.08-0.02
0.97-0.092300.00170.03-0.10-0.03
0.96-0.112400.00260.04-0.12-0.04
0.94-0.142500.00410.06-0.15-0.06
0.91-0.182600.00670.08-0.18-0.09
0.85-0.232700.01110.12-0.23-0.16
0.72-0.282800.01800.17-0.29-0.28
0.52-0.322900.02290.20-0.33-0.49
0.32-0.313000.01900.18-0.31-0.69
0.20-0.273100.01300.14-0.28-0.82
0.13-0.233200.00880.11-0.24-0.88
0.09-0.203300.00620.09-0.21-0.92
0.07-0.173400.00450.07-0.18-0.94
0.05-0.153500.00340.06-0.16-0.96
0.04-0.143600.00260.05-0.14-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 35 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2002703203704204801K0
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

spot1501852403103804501K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 3K 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: VMC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk