Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 9:14 PM ET

HDB max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.81
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$22.5-1.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.9±8.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.52498 puts / 956 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3027.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · 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$22.5-1.4%30d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5-1.4%58d
Fri, Jan 15$22.5-1.4%86d
Fri, Apr 16$20-12.3%177d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.5182022242628$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot22.517.52022.52527.5619619
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HDB 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

spot22.517.52022.52527.5304304
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot182022242628131%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2017.52022.52527.5+$37K−$37K
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
0.94-0.0117.50.02890.01-0.01-0.06
0.87-0.01200.07560.01-0.01-0.14
0.59-0.0122.50.20960.03-0.01-0.42
0.17-0.01250.12290.02-0.01-0.85
0.07-0.0127.50.05010.01-0.01-0.96

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

spot12.517.522.527.532.54K0
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

spot12.517.522.527.532.55K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 6K 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: HDB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk