Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 8:17 PM ET

THG max pain

Spot (delayed)$233.26
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$220-5.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23.5±10.1% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.7023 puts / 33 calls
Call wall$240largest call OI
Put wall$220largest put OI
IV3022.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $195

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 20$230-1.4%23d
Fri, Dec 18$240+2.9%51d
Fri, Feb 19$220-5.7%114d
Fri, May 21$230-1.4%205d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot220180194208222236250$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 — 220 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot2201801952202401313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)THG open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot22018019522024011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot18019420822223625040%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 195180195220240+$10K−$10K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.011800.00320.20-0.03-0.08
0.89-0.021900.00440.25-0.04-0.11
0.87-0.021950.00510.28-0.04-0.13
0.79-0.032100.00810.38-0.04-0.21
0.70-0.042200.01090.45-0.05-0.30
0.59-0.042300.01360.50-0.05-0.42
0.45-0.042400.01470.51-0.04-0.57
0.31-0.042500.01330.46-0.04-0.71

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

spot1501902002202402702010
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

spot100130160190240300213213
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 373 call contracts, 505 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: THG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk