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

CG max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.09
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$50+1.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.05±24.5% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.75395 puts / 529 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3038.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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

spot50303846546270$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot50304047.55565364364
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CG 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

spot50304047.5556533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot30384654627058%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 35304047.55565+$22K$22K
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
0.95-0.01300.00660.04-0.01-0.07
0.89-0.01350.01150.07-0.01-0.12
0.85-0.0137.50.01450.09-0.01-0.16
0.81-0.01400.01750.10-0.01-0.21
0.75-0.0142.50.02040.12-0.01-0.26
0.69-0.01450.02300.13-0.01-0.32
0.63-0.0147.50.02510.14-0.01-0.38
0.57-0.01500.02650.14-0.01-0.45
0.50-0.0152.50.02720.14-0.01-0.52
0.44-0.01550.02700.14-0.01-0.58
0.38-0.0157.50.02630.14-0.01-0.65
0.33-0.01600.02500.13-0.01-0.70
0.24-0.01650.02140.11-0.01-0.80
0.17-0.01700.01730.09-0.01-0.89

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

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