Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 6, 3:50 AM ET

HBM max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.2
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$17.5-33.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.9±34.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.06457 puts / 7K calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3066.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$149Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$20-23.7%15d
Fri, Sep 18$22.5-14.1%43d
Fri, Oct 16$25-4.6%71d
Fri, Nov 20$25-4.6%106d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5-33.2%162d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5131926323945$11M$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot17.512.517.522.530402K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HBM open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot17.512.517.522.530404747
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot13192632394587%63%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12.517.522.53040+$48K$48K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0012.50.00700.02-0.00-0.04
0.92-0.00150.01170.03-0.01-0.08
0.87-0.0117.50.01800.04-0.01-0.13
0.80-0.01200.02470.05-0.01-0.20
0.72-0.0122.50.03040.06-0.01-0.28
0.63-0.01250.03400.07-0.01-0.37
0.47-0.01300.03540.07-0.01-0.54
0.34-0.01350.03180.06-0.01-0.68
0.24-0.01400.02670.05-0.01-0.78
0.17-0.01450.02160.04-0.01-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7.515202535454K0
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

spot7.512.517.522.530407K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 9K 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.

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: HBM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk