Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET

HYG max pain

Spot (delayed)$76.93
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$79
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-03-19 expiration, over 35 strikes carrying 415,743 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+2.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.09
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-03-19 expiration = 3.09 USD, 4.0% of 76.93 spot.
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±4.0% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI19.06
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET
How395,013 put contracts / 20,730 call contracts = 19.06 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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395K puts / 21K calls
Call wall$77
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET
How77.00 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$79
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET
How79.00 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
IV306.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$153.1M
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 3, 10:15 AM 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

Event risk before this expiration: 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 6$77.5+0.7%3d
Fri, Nov 13$77+0.1%10d
Fri, Nov 20$78+1.4%17d
Fri, Nov 27$77.5+0.7%24d
Fri, Dec 4$77+0.1%31d
Fri, Dec 11too thin38d
Fri, Dec 18$78+1.4%45d
Fri, Jan 15$78+1.4%73d
Fri, Feb 19$78+1.4%108d
Fri, Mar 19$79+2.7%136d
Fri, Apr 16$79+2.7%164d
Fri, May 21$80+4.0%199d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7940557085100115$1.4B$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 — 79 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot79406975818795100K100K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HYG 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

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot6575859510511531%5%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 8.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot406975818795+$49.2M−$49.2M
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
0.93-0.00700.03310.06-0.01-0.15
0.91-0.01710.04230.07-0.01-0.17
0.89-0.01720.05470.09-0.01-0.20
0.85-0.01730.07090.10-0.01-0.24
0.80-0.01740.09230.12-0.01-0.30
0.73-0.01750.11810.14-0.01-0.37
0.63-0.01760.14590.16-0.01-0.47
0.48-0.01770.16520.18-0.00-0.60
0.31-0.00780.15010.16-0.00-0.74
0.15-0.00790.10850.11-0.00-0.89
0.05-0.00800.05180.060.00-0.96
0.03-0.00810.03120.04not quoted-0.97
0.03-0.00820.02220.04not quoted-0.98
0.02-0.00830.01690.03not quoted-0.98
0.02-0.00840.01350.03not quoted-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 35 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7377.5798184244K0
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

spot4053667581.5921.7M1.7M
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2.7M call contracts, 7.7M 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: HYG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk