Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 11:57 PM ET

BLX max pain

Spot (delayed)$55.18
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$55-0.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.53±11.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.2329 puts / 127 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3023.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60

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$60+8.7%6d
Fri, Sep 18$55-0.3%34d
Fri, Dec 18$55-0.3%125d
Fri, Mar 19$60+8.7%216d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55455259667380$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot55455565805858
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BLX 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

spot554555658011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot45525966738049%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 6045556580+$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
0.87-0.01450.01890.07-0.01-0.15
0.76-0.01500.03440.10-0.01-0.26
0.55-0.01550.05240.13-0.01-0.47
0.32-0.01600.04500.11-0.01-0.70
0.19-0.01650.02950.09-0.01-0.82
0.13-0.01700.01990.07-0.01-0.88
0.07-0.01800.01070.04-0.01-0.93

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

spot506070801160
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

spot22.535506580116116
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 312 call contracts, 116 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: BLX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk