Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 7, 2:53 AM ET

BKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.72
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$45-1.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.93±17.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.38118 puts / 311 calls
Call wall$47.5largest call OI
Put wall$37.5largest put OI
IV3033.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$16Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30
Earnings · expectedFri, Aug 21usually after the close

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$42.5-7.0%14d← 1st expiry after earnings (Fri, Aug 21)
Fri, Sep 18$50+9.4%42d
Fri, Dec 18$45-1.6%133d
Fri, Mar 19$40-12.5%224d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45283645536270$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4527.537.54552.5609898
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BKE 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

spot4527.537.54552.56011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot28364553627056%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 3027.537.54552.560+$9K$9K
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
0.96-0.0027.50.00620.03-0.01-0.05
0.94-0.00300.00890.03-0.01-0.07
0.88-0.01350.01700.06-0.01-0.13
0.83-0.0137.50.02260.07-0.01-0.17
0.76-0.01400.02890.09-0.01-0.24
0.68-0.0142.50.03520.10-0.01-0.32
0.59-0.01450.04000.11-0.01-0.42
0.48-0.0147.50.04190.11-0.01-0.53
0.39-0.01500.04060.10-0.01-0.63
0.30-0.0152.50.03680.10-0.01-0.72
0.23-0.01550.03180.09-0.01-0.79
0.18-0.0157.50.02680.07-0.01-0.84
0.14-0.01600.02220.06-0.01-0.88
0.11-0.0162.50.01830.05-0.01-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot27.54047.55562.58890
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

spot22.532.542.552.562.580889889
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 723 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: BKE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk