Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:06 AM ET

HWKN max pain

Spot (delayed)$132.32
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$130-1.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.25±10.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.4516 puts / 11 calls
Call wall$130largest call OI
Put wall$160largest put OI
IV3042.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$571per 1% move · flip ≈ $130

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$130-1.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$140+5.8%53d
Fri, Mar 19$115-13.1%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot130115124133142151160$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 — 130 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot13011512514016088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HWKN open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot13011512514016011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot11512413314215116061%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 130115125140160+$3K−$3K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.82-0.101150.01200.09-0.10-0.18
0.77-0.111200.01580.11-0.11-0.23
0.69-0.111250.02030.13-0.11-0.32
0.58-0.111300.02440.14-0.11-0.42
0.33-0.101400.02340.13-0.10-0.67
0.24-0.091450.01930.12-0.09-0.76
0.11-0.071600.00980.07-0.07-0.89

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

spot11513515518022025080
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

spot659512515518523088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 42 call contracts, 28 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: HWKN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk