Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:48 PM ET

HROW max pain

Spot (delayed)$28.59
Max pain · Fri, Sep 17$28-2.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.1±49.3% by Fri, Sep 17
Put/Call OI0.0514 puts / 261 calls
Call wall$33largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3072.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$30+4.9%26d
Fri, Dec 18$36+25.9%54d
Fri, Jan 15$25-12.6%82d
Fri, Mar 19$30+4.9%145d
Fri, Apr 16$35+22.4%173d
Fri, Sep 17$28-2.1%327d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot28202734414855$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot282028334050109109
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HROW open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 17.

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, Sep 17

spot28202833405011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot20273441485575%62%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 71.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spotflip 252028334050+$2K−$2K
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, Sep 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.81-0.01200.01300.07-0.01-0.19
0.71-0.01250.01700.09-0.01-0.28
0.66-0.01280.01890.10-0.01-0.35
0.62-0.01300.01980.10-0.01-0.39
0.56-0.01330.02070.10-0.01-0.45
0.52-0.01350.02110.11-0.01-0.49
0.44-0.01400.02120.11-0.01-0.58
0.41-0.01420.02090.10-0.01-0.61
0.30-0.01500.01910.09-0.01-0.73
0.25-0.01550.01750.09-0.01-0.80

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

spot13263340477011K0
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

spot13253239466514K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 50K 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: HROW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk