Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 18, 2:27 AM ET

CAH max pain

Spot (delayed)$236.1
Max pain · Fri, Aug 28$235-0.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.48±4.0% by Fri, Aug 28
Put/Call OI1.59132 puts / 83 calls
Call wall$255largest call OI
Put wall$232.5largest put OI
IV3025.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$125Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $190

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$230-2.6%3d
Fri, Aug 28$235-0.5%10d
Fri, Sep 4$230-2.6%17d
Fri, Sep 11$245+3.8%24d
Fri, Sep 18$210-11.1%31d
Fri, Sep 25$235-0.5%38d
Fri, Oct 2$220-6.8%45d
Fri, Dec 18$195-17.4%122d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot235120149178207236265$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 — 235 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 28

spot2351202002202352506565
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CAH open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 28.

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, Aug 28

spot2351202002202352502424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Aug 28

spot19020522023525026570%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 28

spotflip 190165210225235247.5260+$123K$123K
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, Aug 28

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.072150.00830.05-0.07-0.06
0.92-0.08217.50.01060.06-0.08-0.08
0.90-0.102200.01360.07-0.10-0.10
0.82-0.142250.02150.11-0.14-0.17
0.77-0.16227.50.02620.13-0.16-0.23
0.70-0.182300.03080.14-0.18-0.30
0.62-0.19232.50.03450.16-0.19-0.38
0.53-0.202350.03650.16-0.20-0.47
0.36-0.192400.03390.15-0.19-0.65
0.28-0.17242.50.03010.14-0.17-0.72
0.22-0.152450.02580.12-0.15-0.78
0.17-0.13247.50.02140.10-0.13-0.83
0.13-0.122500.01750.09-0.12-0.87
0.08-0.082550.01140.06-0.08-0.92
0.06-0.07257.50.00920.05-0.07-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot120185220237.5252.52701K0
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

spot551151752202502953K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 22K call contracts, 17K 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: CAH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk