Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 17, 1:53 AM ET

HBM max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.62
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$25+5.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.18±30.4% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.48414 puts / 863 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3068.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$8Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Nov 20$25+5.8%33d
Fri, Dec 18$20-15.3%61d
Fri, Jan 15$22.5-4.7%89d
Fri, Apr 16$25+5.8%180d
Fri, Jan 21$17.5-25.9%460d
Fri, Jan 19$20-15.3%824d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152025303540$1M$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 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2515202535419419
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HBM open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot25152025351111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot15202530354061%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 3015202535+$6K−$6K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.00150.01560.03-0.00-0.08
0.86-0.0117.50.02530.04-0.01-0.15
0.77-0.01200.03420.05-0.01-0.25
0.67-0.0122.50.04030.06-0.01-0.36
0.56-0.01250.04300.07-0.01-0.47
0.38-0.01300.04080.06-0.01-0.66
0.25-0.01350.03340.05-0.01-0.81
0.16-0.01400.02530.04-0.01-0.92

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

spot7.512.517.522.530405K0
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

spot7.512.517.522.530406K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 19K 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