Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET

WOLF max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.17
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$25.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 39 strikes carrying 15,805 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+10.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.58
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 4.58 USD, 19.8% of 23.17 spot.
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±19.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.89
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET
How7,425 put contracts / 8,380 call contracts = 0.89 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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7K puts / 8K calls
Call wall$35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET
How35.00 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$22
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET
How22.00 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
IV30103.4%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$58K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:06 AM 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

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$24+3.6%2d
Fri, Nov 13$24+3.6%9d
Fri, Nov 20$25.5+10.1%16d
Fri, Nov 27$26+12.2%23d
Fri, Dec 4$23-0.7%30d
Fri, Dec 11too thin37d
Fri, Dec 18$30+29.5%44d
Fri, Jan 15$35+51.1%72d
Fri, Mar 19$30+29.5%135d
Fri, Apr 16$30+29.5%163d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25.5132028354350$14M$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 — 25.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot25.512.5202427.53242.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WOLF 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

spot25.5202325.528352K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot132028354350186%102%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 117.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot12.5202427.532.545+$75K−$75K
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
0.83-0.04180.04300.01-0.04-0.17
0.78-0.05190.05180.01-0.05-0.22
0.71-0.06200.05970.02-0.06-0.28
0.65-0.06210.06590.02-0.06-0.35
0.61-0.0621.50.06810.02-0.06-0.39
0.58-0.07220.06970.02-0.07-0.42
0.54-0.0722.50.07070.02-0.07-0.46
0.51-0.07230.07110.02-0.07-0.49
0.47-0.0723.50.07090.02-0.07-0.53
0.44-0.07240.07010.02-0.07-0.56
0.41-0.0624.50.06890.02-0.06-0.59
0.38-0.06250.06720.02-0.06-0.62
0.35-0.0625.50.06530.02-0.06-0.65
0.32-0.06260.06300.02-0.06-0.68
0.30-0.0626.50.06060.02-0.06-0.70

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

spot1521263137.5462K0
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

spot12.52435507511551K51K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 223K call contracts, 71K 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: WOLF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk