Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 15, 9:30 AM ET

ADUR max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.05
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$10-37.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.35±76.9% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.0278 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3086.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$16Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Aug 21$15-6.6%5d
Fri, Sep 18$15-6.6%33d
Fri, Oct 16$12.5-22.1%61d
Fri, Dec 18$10-37.7%124d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-22.1%152d
Fri, Feb 19$15-6.6%187d
Fri, Mar 19$15-6.6%215d
Fri, Dec 17$10-37.7%488d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot103916222935$6M$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot102.57.512.517.522.5301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ADUR open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 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, Dec 17

spot102.57.512.517.522.5302828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot3916222935184%80%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 94.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot2.57.512.517.522.530+$6K$6K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.002.50.00420.00-0.00-0.02
0.93-0.0050.00810.02-0.00-0.05
0.87-0.007.50.01170.03-0.00-0.10
0.81-0.00100.01510.04-0.00-0.15
0.75-0.0112.50.01790.05-0.01-0.21
0.69-0.01150.02010.06-0.01-0.27
0.64-0.0117.50.02170.07-0.01-0.32
0.59-0.01200.02280.07-0.01-0.37
0.54-0.0122.50.02350.07-0.01-0.42
0.50-0.01250.02380.07-0.01-0.47
0.42-0.01300.02370.07-0.01-0.55
0.36-0.01350.02290.07-0.01-0.62

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

spot10152025351K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 5K 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: ADUR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk