Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:51 PM ET

HIVE max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.94
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$0.5-74.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.6±31.0% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI0.22250 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$2.5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV30102.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$748per 1% move

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, Oct 30$1-48.4%4d
Fri, Nov 6$0.5-74.2%11d
Fri, Nov 13$0.5-74.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$3+54.8%25d
Fri, Nov 27$0.5-74.2%32d
Fri, Dec 4$0.5-74.2%39d
Fri, Dec 18$3+54.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5+29.0%81d
Fri, Mar 19$3+54.8%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot0.5123456$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 — 0.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot0.50.51.52.53.54.55.5367367
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HIVE open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 13.

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 13

spot0.50.51.52.53.54.55.51313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot123456397%108%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 159.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot0.51.52.53.54.5+$414−$414
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 13

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.000.50.03620.00-0.00-0.03
0.93-0.0010.12580.00-0.00-0.07
0.83-0.001.50.39240.00-0.00-0.17
0.50-0.0020.88580.00-0.00-0.50
0.26-0.012.50.53470.00-0.01-0.74
0.17-0.0030.34420.00-0.00-0.82
0.13-0.003.50.25040.00-0.00-0.87
0.11-0.0040.19560.00-0.00-0.89
0.09-0.004.50.16010.00-0.00-0.91
0.08-0.0050.13510.00-0.00-0.92
0.07-0.005.50.11660.00-0.00-0.93

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

spot0.51.52.53.54.571K0
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

spot0.523.556.51080K80K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 281K call contracts, 44K 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: HIVE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk