Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET

HMY max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.5
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$17
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 17 strikes carrying 2,520 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+3.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.18
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 4.18 USD, 25.3% of 16.50 spot.
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±25.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.23
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
How463 put contracts / 2,057 call contracts = 0.23 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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463 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$30
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
How30.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest call OI
Put wall$17
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
How17.00 for the 2027-03-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV3052.3%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 8:54 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-03-19 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.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $17

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 20one strike decides10d
Fri, Dec 18$16-3.0%38d
Fri, Jan 15$15-9.1%66d
Fri, Feb 19$18+9.1%101d
Fri, Mar 19$17+3.0%129d
Fri, May 21one strike decides192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17121619232630$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 — 17 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot171215182124281K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HMY open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot171214182020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot12161923263086%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 17121518212428+$8K−$8K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.01120.03620.02-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.01130.04550.03-0.01-0.20
0.76-0.01140.05520.03-0.01-0.25
0.69-0.01150.06410.04-0.01-0.32
0.62-0.01160.07060.04-0.01-0.39
0.55-0.01170.07390.04-0.01-0.46
0.48-0.01180.07400.04-0.01-0.54
0.41-0.01190.07170.04-0.01-0.60
0.36-0.01200.06780.04-0.01-0.66
0.31-0.01210.06300.04-0.01-0.71
0.27-0.01220.05800.03-0.01-0.76
0.24-0.01230.05300.03-0.01-0.79

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4111723293512K0
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

spot171319253113K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41K call contracts, 19K 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: HMY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk