Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 7:58 AM ET

HURN max pain

Spot (delayed)$198
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$145-26.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$31.9±16.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.03277 puts / 268 calls
Call wall$145largest call OI
Put wall$150largest put OI
IV3059.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

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$125-36.9%24d
Fri, Dec 18$145-26.8%52d
Fri, Mar 19$160-19.2%143d
Thu, Jun 17$150-24.2%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1455594133172211250$3M$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 — 145 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1455585115145175230139139
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HURN open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot145558511514517523011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5594133172211250193%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 655595120145170210+$17K−$17K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.091550.00420.16-0.10-0.13
0.85-0.101600.00480.17-0.10-0.15
0.83-0.101650.00560.19-0.11-0.17
0.80-0.111700.00630.21-0.12-0.20
0.76-0.121750.00710.23-0.13-0.24
0.73-0.131800.00790.25-0.13-0.28
0.59-0.141950.00980.29-0.14-0.41
0.54-0.142000.01020.30-0.14-0.47
0.44-0.142100.01030.30-0.14-0.57
0.34-0.132200.00970.28-0.13-0.67
0.26-0.112300.00860.25-0.11-0.75
0.20-0.102400.00730.21-0.10-0.82
0.14-0.082500.00590.17-0.08-0.87

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot65951251551852307060
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

spot5085120155190250706706
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 1K 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: HURN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk