Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 1, 9:30 AM ET

BSP max pain

Spot (delayed)$35.5
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$35-1.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.55±35.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI26.375K puts / 207 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3073.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$144Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · 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$35-1.4%20d
Fri, Sep 18$30-15.5%48d
Fri, Oct 16$35-1.4%76d
Fri, Jan 15$35-1.4%167d
Thu, Jun 17$17.5-50.7%320d
Fri, Jan 21$30-15.5%538d
Fri, Dec 15$45+26.8%867d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35182431374450$8M$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, Jan 15

spot3517.522.530403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BSP open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot3517.522.530403030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot182431374450102%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot17.522.53040+$89K$89K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0117.50.00710.02-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.01200.00970.03-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.0122.50.01280.04-0.01-0.12
0.83-0.01250.01600.06-0.01-0.16
0.71-0.02300.02160.08-0.01-0.28
0.58-0.02350.02490.09-0.02-0.40
0.46-0.02400.02560.09-0.02-0.52
0.27-0.01500.02140.08-0.01-0.72

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

spot303540452880
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

spot17.522.53040508K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 697 call contracts, 10K 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: BSP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk