Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET

YANG max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.17
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 20 strikes carrying 2,252 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-12.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 4.00 USD, 11.7% of 34.17 spot.
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±11.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.23
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
How416 put contracts / 1,836 call contracts = 0.23 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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416 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$45
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
How45.00 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$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
How30.00 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
IV3064.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$84K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 2, 7:32 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 ≈ $28

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 20$30-12.2%17d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides45d
Fri, Jan 15$31-9.3%73d
Fri, Apr 16$33-3.4%164d
Fri, Jan 21$25-26.8%444d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30222731364045$2M$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot302227313539448448
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)YANG 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

spot3027303437413232
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot222731364045129%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 282227313539+$22K−$22K
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
0.97-0.01270.01980.01-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.02280.02820.01-0.02-0.07
0.90-0.02290.03870.01-0.02-0.10
0.85-0.03300.05030.02-0.03-0.15
0.79-0.04310.06180.02-0.04-0.21
0.71-0.04320.07160.03-0.04-0.29
0.63-0.05330.07820.03-0.05-0.36
0.55-0.05340.08120.03-0.05-0.45
0.47-0.06350.08060.03-0.05-0.53
0.40-0.05360.07690.03-0.05-0.60
0.33-0.05370.07110.03-0.05-0.67
0.27-0.05380.06410.03-0.05-0.72
0.22-0.04390.05660.02-0.04-0.77
0.18-0.04400.04920.02-0.04-0.81
0.15-0.03410.04220.02-0.03-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1528354265804K0
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

spot1327344160814K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 13K call contracts, 5K 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: YANG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk