Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 28, 2:06 AM ET

AZO max pain

Spot (delayed)$2,940
Max pain · Fri, Sep 17$2,950+0.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$832±28.3% by Fri, Sep 17
Put/Call OI0.2361 puts / 262 calls
Call wall$4,450largest call OI
Put wall$1,460largest put OI
IV3032.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$536Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $4,200

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, Sep 18$3,040+3.4%22d
Fri, Oct 16$2,980+1.4%50d
Fri, Dec 18$3,500+19.0%113d
Fri, Jan 15$3,200+8.8%141d
Fri, Mar 19$3,200+8.8%204d
Thu, Jun 17$3,200+8.8%294d
Fri, Sep 17$2,950+0.3%386d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2950146020982736337440124650$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 — 2950 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot29501460295037003950425045008181
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AZO open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 17

spot29501460295037003950425045003636
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot14602098273633744012465043%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spotflip 4200146030003800410043004550+$210K$210K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.9714600.00012.24-0.13-0.03
0.9615400.00012.62-0.14-0.04
0.94-0.0417400.00013.72-0.20-0.06
0.79-0.3224400.00038.74-0.42-0.22
0.62-0.4729500.000411.52-0.54-0.41
0.60-0.4730000.000411.66-0.54-0.43
0.56-0.4931000.000411.89-0.55-0.47
0.49-0.5033000.000412.04-0.56-0.55
0.37-0.4837000.000411.41-0.54-0.70
0.34-0.4738000.000411.11-0.53-0.73
0.33-0.4738500.000310.95-0.52-0.75
0.32-0.4639000.000310.78-0.52-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 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

spot1640260030203350390054003890
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

spot1460252030003500425053001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 7K 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: AZO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk