Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 1:22 AM ET

HMN max pain

Spot (delayed)$46.3
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$25-46.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.2±13.4% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI14.6744 puts / 3 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3036.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$295per 1% move

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$50+8.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$50+8.0%53d
Fri, Feb 19$25-46.0%116d
Fri, May 21$50+8.0%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25253239465360$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, Feb 19

spot25255055604444
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HMN 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

spot252550556011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot25505560+$528−$528
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
0.94-0.01250.00560.03-0.01-0.06
0.32-0.01500.05600.09-0.01-0.70
0.15-0.01550.03310.06-0.01-0.86
0.09-0.01600.01980.04-0.01-0.92

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

spot40505560340
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

spot22.530405060705454
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 77 call contracts, 50 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: HMN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk