Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 28, 11:53 PM ET

CG max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.09
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$45-8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.8±17.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI2.2811K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3038.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$171Kper 1% move

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, Sep 18$45-8.3%21d
Fri, Oct 16$50+1.9%49d
Fri, Dec 18$45-8.3%112d
Fri, Jan 15$52.5+6.9%140d
Fri, Mar 19$50+1.9%203d
Fri, Jan 21$45-8.3%511d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45253443526170$16M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot452532.54047.555658K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CG 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

spot452532.54047.5556566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot25344352617079%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2532.54047.55565+$412K$412K
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
0.95-0.0132.50.00780.03-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.01350.01120.04-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.0137.50.01540.05-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01400.02030.07-0.01-0.17
0.78-0.0242.50.02570.08-0.02-0.23
0.71-0.02450.03090.09-0.02-0.30
0.62-0.0247.50.03500.10-0.02-0.39
0.53-0.02500.03740.11-0.02-0.48
0.44-0.0252.50.03740.11-0.02-0.57
0.36-0.02550.03550.10-0.02-0.66
0.28-0.0257.50.03220.09-0.02-0.73
0.23-0.01600.02810.08-0.01-0.80
0.14-0.01650.02020.06-0.01-0.89
0.09-0.01700.01390.04-0.01-0.96

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

spot3042.552.562.572.558K0
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

spot17.53042.55567.58558K58K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 120K call contracts, 91K 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: CG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk