Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 13, 2:29 AM ET

CBRL max pain

Spot (delayed)$58.5
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$52.5-10.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.9±34.0% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.6964 puts / 93 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$37.5largest put OI
IV3058.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $62.5

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$52.5-10.3%8d
Fri, Sep 18$45-23.1%36d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5-27.4%127d
Fri, Jan 15$40-31.6%155d
Fri, Mar 19$52.5-10.3%218d
Fri, Dec 17$37.5-35.9%491d
Fri, Jan 21$37.5-35.9%526d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot52.5283951627485$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 — 52.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot52.527.54047.55562.5754141
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CBRL open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot52.527.54047.55562.57544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot28395162748568%53%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 62.527.54047.55562.575+$2K$2K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.01400.00870.10-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.0142.50.00980.12-0.02-0.18
0.78-0.02450.01080.13-0.02-0.21
0.75-0.0247.50.01180.14-0.02-0.24
0.71-0.02500.01280.15-0.02-0.28
0.67-0.0252.50.01360.16-0.02-0.31
0.64-0.02550.01430.17-0.02-0.35
0.60-0.0257.50.01480.17-0.02-0.39
0.56-0.02600.01520.17-0.02-0.43
0.52-0.0262.50.01550.18-0.02-0.47
0.49-0.02650.01560.18-0.02-0.50
0.42-0.02700.01540.17-0.02-0.57
0.35-0.02750.01480.17-0.02-0.64
0.25-0.02850.01280.14-0.01-0.75

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2535455565855K0
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

spot12.527.542.557.572.5955K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 28K call contracts, 21K 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: CBRL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk