Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 13, 12:01 AM ET

HP max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.72
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$17.5-54.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.2±39.3% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.19348 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3044.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$29Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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, Oct 16$40+3.3%2d
Fri, Nov 20$37.5-3.2%37d
Fri, Dec 18$20-48.3%65d
Fri, Jan 15$40+3.3%93d
Fri, Mar 19$25-35.4%156d
Fri, Jan 21$17.5-54.8%464d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5132232415160$5M$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot17.512.52027.53542.550384384
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HP open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot17.512.52027.53542.5501010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot13223241516080%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 17.512.52027.53542.550+$5K−$5K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00200.00610.06-0.00-0.07
0.91-0.0022.50.00800.07-0.00-0.10
0.88-0.00250.01000.09-0.01-0.13
0.85-0.0027.50.01220.11-0.01-0.17
0.81-0.00300.01430.12-0.01-0.21
0.76-0.0132.50.01620.14-0.01-0.26
0.71-0.01350.01790.15-0.01-0.31
0.67-0.0137.50.01920.16-0.01-0.36
0.62-0.01400.02020.16-0.01-0.41
0.57-0.0142.50.02090.17-0.01-0.46
0.52-0.01450.02120.17-0.01-0.51
0.48-0.0147.50.02120.17-0.01-0.56
0.44-0.01500.02100.17-0.01-0.61
0.37-0.01550.02000.16-0.01-0.70
0.30-0.01600.01860.15-0.01-0.78

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7.522.53037.54552.51K0
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

spot2.512.522.532.542.552.51K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K 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: HP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk