Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 28, 10:05 AM ET

BIRK max pain

Spot (delayed)$35.31
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$35-0.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.95±31.0% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.7434 puts / 46 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3044.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$600per 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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$37.5+6.2%21d
Fri, Oct 16$40+13.3%49d
Fri, Jan 15$37.5+6.2%140d
Fri, Apr 16$35-0.9%231d
Fri, Jan 21$30-15.0%511d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35202734414855$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, Apr 16

spot3520303540553939
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BIRK open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot35203035405555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot20273441485554%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 352030354055+$1K$1K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.00200.00910.04-0.01-0.07
0.84-0.01250.01580.07-0.01-0.15
0.72-0.01300.02290.09-0.01-0.27
0.65-0.0132.50.02560.10-0.01-0.33
0.58-0.01350.02740.11-0.01-0.40
0.51-0.0137.50.02820.11-0.01-0.47
0.45-0.01400.02810.11-0.01-0.54
0.34-0.01450.02600.10-0.01-0.66
0.18-0.01550.01860.07-0.01-0.82

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

spot17.527.537.547.557.5757K0
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

spot17.527.537.547.557.57532K32K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 24K call contracts, 55K 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: BIRK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk