Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 7, 4:01 PM ET

BHP max pain

Spot (delayed)$90.16
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$82.5-8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.5±18.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.639K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$87.5largest call OI
Put wall$87.5largest put OI
IV3039.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$213Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · 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$85-5.7%14d
Fri, Sep 18$75-16.8%42d
Fri, Nov 20$82.5-8.5%105d
Fri, Dec 18$82.5-8.5%133d
Fri, Jan 15$60-33.5%161d
Fri, Feb 19$85-5.7%196d
Fri, Mar 19$90-0.2%224d
Thu, Jun 17$75-16.8%314d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot82.530517293114135$37M$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 — 82.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot82.53047.562.577.592.51152K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BHP 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

spot82.53047.562.577.592.51155252
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3051729311413585%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3047.562.577.592.5115+$117K$117K
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
0.84-0.0272.50.01190.13-0.02-0.17
0.81-0.02750.01330.14-0.02-0.20
0.77-0.0377.50.01460.16-0.03-0.23
0.73-0.03800.01580.18-0.03-0.28
0.69-0.0382.50.01700.19-0.03-0.32
0.64-0.03850.01800.20-0.03-0.37
0.59-0.0387.50.01880.21-0.03-0.41
0.55-0.03900.01920.21-0.03-0.46
0.50-0.0392.50.01940.21-0.03-0.51
0.45-0.03950.01930.21-0.03-0.56
0.41-0.0397.50.01900.21-0.03-0.61
0.37-0.031000.01840.20-0.03-0.65
0.29-0.031050.01670.18-0.03-0.73
0.23-0.021100.01470.16-0.03-0.80
0.18-0.021150.01250.14-0.02-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot47.56072.58597.512015K0
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

spot2542.56077.59512535K35K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 91K call contracts, 88K 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: BHP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk