Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 13, 9:40 AM ET

BAP max pain

Spot (delayed)$372.5
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$380+2.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$33.7±9.0% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI0.8335 puts / 42 calls
Call wall$390largest call OI
Put wall$380largest put OI
IV3036.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $390

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$340-8.7%8d
Fri, Sep 18$380+2.0%36d
Fri, Nov 20$380+2.0%99d
Fri, Feb 19$390+4.7%190d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot380310326342358374390$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 — 380 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot3803103403703803902525
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BAP open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 18.

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 18

spot3803103403703803902424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot31032634235837439048%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spotflip 390310340370380390+$32K$32K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.113100.00300.19-0.12-0.09
0.80-0.173400.00610.34-0.18-0.21
0.56-0.223700.00950.47-0.22-0.44
0.46-0.223800.00970.47-0.22-0.54
0.37-0.213900.00920.45-0.21-0.64

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

spot2703203604004404901K0
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

spot1702203003804605401K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 747 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: BAP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk