Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 19, 2:30 AM ET

CAH max pain

Spot (delayed)$235
Max pain · Fri, Oct 2$225-4.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.9±7.2% by Fri, Oct 2
Put/Call OI1.007 puts / 7 calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$230largest put OI
IV3024.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $235

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$230-2.1%3d
Fri, Aug 28$232.5-1.1%10d
Fri, Sep 4$230-2.1%17d
Fri, Sep 11$240+2.1%24d
Fri, Sep 18$210-10.6%31d
Fri, Sep 25$235+0.0%38d
Fri, Oct 2$225-4.3%45d
Fri, Dec 18$195-17.0%122d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot225220223226229232235$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 — 225 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot22522022523023566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CAH open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 2.

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, Oct 2

spot22522022523023555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot22022322622923223527%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spotflip 235220225230235+$4K$4K
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, Oct 2

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.79-0.072200.01300.24-0.07-0.22
0.72-0.082250.01570.28-0.08-0.29
0.64-0.092300.01790.31-0.09-0.37
0.55-0.092350.01920.33-0.09-0.47

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

spot120170215235252.52751K0
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

spot551151752202502954K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 22K call contracts, 18K 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