Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 2:09 AM ET

BEPC max pain

Spot (delayed)$35.87
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$35-2.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.7±15.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.94498 puts / 257 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3026.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$11Kper 1% move

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$35-2.4%5d
Fri, Sep 18$35-2.4%33d
Fri, Nov 20$30-16.4%96d
Fri, Dec 18$35-2.4%124d
Fri, Mar 19$30-16.4%215d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35233140485765$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3522.530405065191191
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BEPC 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

spot3522.53040506566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot23314048576561%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot22.530405065+$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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0022.50.00900.01-0.01-0.06
0.95-0.01250.01680.02-0.01-0.08
0.82-0.01300.03780.05-0.01-0.20
0.58-0.01350.05910.08-0.01-0.44
0.31-0.01400.05110.07-0.01-0.69
0.17-0.01450.03270.05-0.01-0.82
0.11-0.01500.02110.04-0.00-0.89
0.07-0.01550.01440.03-0.00-0.93
0.04-0.00650.00790.02-0.97

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

spot20304050603K0
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

spot17.522.5304050603K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 3K 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: BEPC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk