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

HDB max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.81
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$22.5-1.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.68±11.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.605K puts / 8K calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3027.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$112Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$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

spot22.5131722263135$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot22.512.517.522.527.532.54K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HDB 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

spot22.512.517.522.527.532.52121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot13172226313591%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 2012.517.522.527.532.5+$63K−$63K
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
0.99—12.50.00490.00-0.00-0.01
0.97—150.01250.01-0.00-0.03
0.92-0.0017.50.03100.02-0.00-0.07
0.81-0.01200.07060.03-0.01-0.19
0.57-0.0122.50.11520.04-0.01-0.43
0.30-0.01250.10350.04-0.01-0.72
0.14-0.0027.50.06200.03-0.00-0.90
0.07-0.00300.03350.01-0.00-0.98
0.04-0.0032.50.01840.01-0.01-1.00
0.02-0.00350.01050.01-0.01-1.00

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