Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 18, 2:28 PM ET

AG max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.99
Max pain · Fri, Sep 25$17-10.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.07±16.1% by Fri, Sep 25
Put/Call OI0.53320 puts / 602 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$14.5largest put OI
IV3061.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$17-10.5%3d
Fri, Aug 28$17.5-7.8%10d
Fri, Sep 4$18.5-2.6%17d
Fri, Sep 11$17-10.5%24d
Fri, Sep 18$17-10.5%31d
Fri, Sep 25$17-10.5%38d
Fri, Oct 2$17-10.5%45d
Fri, Oct 16$18-5.2%59d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17101418222630$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 — 17 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 25

spot171014.517192123128128
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AG open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 25.

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, Sep 25

spot171014.5171921231919
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 25

spot10141822263095%54%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 25

spotflip 12.51014.517192123+$4K$4K
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, Sep 25

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.0115.50.05440.01-0.01-0.14
0.83-0.01160.06380.02-0.01-0.17
0.80-0.0116.50.07320.02-0.01-0.21
0.75-0.02170.08230.02-0.02-0.25
0.71-0.0217.50.09030.02-0.02-0.30
0.66-0.02180.09670.02-0.02-0.35
0.60-0.0218.50.10100.02-0.02-0.40
0.55-0.02190.10310.02-0.02-0.45
0.50-0.0219.50.10310.03-0.02-0.50
0.46-0.02200.10130.02-0.02-0.55
0.41-0.0220.50.09800.02-0.02-0.59
0.37-0.02210.09370.02-0.02-0.64
0.33-0.0221.50.08870.02-0.02-0.68
0.30-0.02220.08340.02-0.02-0.71
0.27-0.0222.50.07790.02-0.02-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1101418222911K0
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

spot11014.51923.532115K115K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 651K call contracts, 354K 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: AG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk