Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET

HESM max pain

Spot (delayed)$30.46
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$33
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 26 strikes carrying 3,160 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
+8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.13
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 4.13 USD, 13.5% of 30.46 spot.
Open the source document →
±13.5% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.59
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
How1,176 put contracts / 1,984 call contracts = 0.59 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
1K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$33
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
How33.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$29
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
How29.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV3029.9%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$22K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:57 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-02-19 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move · flip ≈ $34

Event risk before this expiration: 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$32+5.1%10d
Fri, Dec 18$36+18.2%38d
Fri, Feb 19$33+8.3%101d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot33222732384348$2M$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 — 33 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot33222732374248420420
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HESM open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot332528313355
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot22273238434851%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 34222732374248+$31K−$31K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00230.02000.02-0.01-0.10
0.92-0.00240.02610.02-0.01-0.12
0.89-0.01250.03380.03-0.01-0.15
0.86-0.01260.04330.04-0.01-0.20
0.81-0.01270.05480.04-0.01-0.25
0.75-0.01280.06780.05-0.01-0.31
0.68-0.01290.08060.06-0.01-0.39
0.60-0.01300.09110.06-0.01-0.47
0.50-0.01310.09630.06-0.01-0.56
0.41-0.01320.09490.06-0.01-0.65
0.32-0.01330.08730.05-0.01-0.72
0.25-0.01340.07640.05-0.01-0.78
0.20-0.01350.06460.04-0.01-0.83
0.15-0.01360.05370.04-0.00-0.87
0.12-0.01370.04420.03-0.00-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2630343842461K0
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

spot17232935414714K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 26K 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: HESM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk