Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 15, 4:25 AM ET

ATS max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.31
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$15-26.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.85±4.2% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI0.038 puts / 270 calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3040.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$10Kper 1% move

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$15-26.1%6d
Fri, Sep 18$15-26.1%34d
Fri, Oct 16$15-26.1%62d
Fri, Nov 20$15-26.1%97d
Fri, Dec 18$15-26.1%125d
Fri, Jan 15$15-26.1%153d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15152127333945$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot151522.53045155155
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ATS open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 21.

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, Aug 21

spot151522.5304511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot1522.53045+$8K$8K
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, Aug 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.02150.02070.00-0.02-0.03
0.61-0.04200.29370.01-0.04-0.40
0.15-0.0322.50.12150.01-0.03-0.85
0.07-0.02250.04840.00-0.02-0.94
0.03-0.01300.01620.00-0.01-0.97
0.02-0.01350.00820.00-0.01-0.99
0.01-0.01450.00340.00-0.01-0.99

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

spot1522.530451590
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

spot12.517.522.5304050170170
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 474 call contracts, 24 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: ATS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk