Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET

XLY max pain

Spot (delayed)$121.05
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$114
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 45 strikes carrying 17,256 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-5.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.45
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 6.45 USD, 5.3% of 121.05 spot.
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±5.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.61
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET
How6,552 put contracts / 10,704 call contracts = 0.61 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 / 11K calls
Call wall$114
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET
How114.00 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$105
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET
How105.00 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
IV3023.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5.9M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 7:33 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 ≈ $95

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 13$117.5-2.9%2d
Fri, Nov 20$114-5.8%9d
Fri, Nov 27$119-1.7%16d
Fri, Dec 4$117.5-2.9%23d
Fri, Dec 11$118.5-2.1%30d
Fri, Dec 18$117.5-2.9%37d
Fri, Jan 15$112.5-7.1%65d
Fri, Mar 19$115-5.0%128d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1148594103112121130$16M$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 — 114 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot11485101109113.5117.51234K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XLY 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

spot114114.5116117.5119121125118118
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot10110711311812413096%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 9585101109113.5117.5123+$1.7M−$1.7M
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
0.76-0.091170.05130.06-0.10-0.24
0.74-0.10117.50.05520.07-0.10-0.26
0.71-0.101180.05910.07-0.10-0.29
0.68-0.10118.50.06310.07-0.10-0.32
0.65-0.101190.06700.07-0.10-0.35
0.62-0.10119.50.07060.08-0.10-0.38
0.59-0.101200.07370.08-0.10-0.41
0.51-0.101210.07780.08-0.10-0.49
0.43-0.101220.07780.08-0.10-0.57
0.36-0.101230.07370.07-0.10-0.64
0.29-0.091240.06660.07-0.09-0.71
0.24-0.081250.05840.06-0.08-0.76
0.20-0.081260.05020.06-0.08-0.81
0.10-0.051300.02640.04-0.05-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 45 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot80102111.5115.5119.51274K0
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

spot52.585100111120132.550K50K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 153K call contracts, 391K 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: XLY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk