Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 18, 2:10 AM ET

BBD max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.11
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$3-3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.65±20.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.33772 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$4largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3045.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2.5

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$3-3.5%3d
Fri, Sep 18$3-3.5%31d
Fri, Oct 16$3-3.5%59d
Fri, Dec 18$3-3.5%122d
Fri, Jan 15$3-3.5%150d
Fri, Mar 19$1-67.8%213d
Thu, Jun 17$3-3.5%303d
Fri, Jan 21$4+28.6%521d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3123456$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 — 3 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot312.53.54.55.5901901
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BBD open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 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, Dec 18

spot312.53.54.55.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot123456128%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 44.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2.512.53.54.55.5+$3K$3K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0010.03230.00-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.001.50.06690.00-0.00-0.07
0.82-0.002.50.26760.01-0.00-0.19
0.65-0.0030.48620.01-0.00-0.38
0.41-0.003.50.48890.01-0.00-0.63
0.27-0.0040.36210.01-0.00-0.78
0.19-0.004.50.26640.01-0.00-0.86
0.14-0.0050.20200.00-0.00-0.92
0.11-0.005.50.15760.00-0.00-0.95

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

spot1234565K0
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

spot0.523.55729K29K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 77K call contracts, 68K 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: BBD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk