Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET

ZSL max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.06
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$29
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2026-11-20 expiration, over 40 strikes carrying 6,031 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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-14.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.03
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-11-20 expiration = 4.03 USD, 11.8% of 34.06 spot.
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±11.8% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.40
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET
How1,730 put contracts / 4,301 call contracts = 0.40 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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2K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$42
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET
How42.00 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$21
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET
How21.00 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
IV3081.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$157K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 9, 7:42 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 ≈ $29

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$29-14.9%10d
Fri, Dec 18$30-11.9%38d
Fri, Jan 15$22-35.4%66d
Fri, Feb 19$25-26.6%101d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d
Fri, Jan 21$19-44.2%437d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2911325364860$9M$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 — 29 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2911421283542480480
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZSL 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

spot29182630343855333333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152433425160319%70%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 85.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2981724313855+$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
0.93-0.03270.02440.01-0.04-0.07
0.90-0.04280.03190.01-0.04-0.10
0.87-0.05290.04120.01-0.05-0.13
0.82-0.06300.05200.01-0.06-0.18
0.76-0.07310.06310.02-0.07-0.24
0.69-0.08320.07280.02-0.08-0.31
0.61-0.09330.07910.02-0.09-0.39
0.53-0.09340.08090.02-0.09-0.47
0.45-0.09350.07860.02-0.09-0.55
0.39-0.09360.07360.02-0.09-0.62
0.33-0.09370.06710.02-0.09-0.68
0.28-0.09380.06020.02-0.09-0.73
0.23-0.08390.05350.02-0.08-0.77
0.20-0.07400.04730.02-0.07-0.80
0.17-0.07410.04170.01-0.07-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 40 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1021273339555780
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

spot19172533418K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 16K 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: ZSL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk