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

CG max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.09
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$45-8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.9±40.5% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI4.407K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3038.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$170Kper 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

spot452540557085100$12M$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, Jan 21

spot452537.55062.5751006K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CG open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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, Jan 21

spot452537.55062.57510011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot254055708510060%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 44.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot2537.55062.575100+$171K$171K
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, Jan 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.0032.50.00830.13-0.01-0.15
0.83-0.01350.00960.14-0.01-0.18
0.80-0.0137.50.01090.16-0.01-0.21
0.76-0.01400.01210.17-0.01-0.24
0.73-0.0142.50.01320.19-0.01-0.28
0.69-0.01450.01430.20-0.01-0.32
0.65-0.0147.50.01520.21-0.01-0.36
0.61-0.01500.01590.21-0.01-0.40
0.57-0.0152.50.01640.22-0.01-0.44
0.54-0.01550.01680.22-0.01-0.48
0.50-0.0157.50.01700.22-0.01-0.52
0.46-0.01600.01700.22-0.01-0.56
0.43-0.0162.50.01690.22-0.01-0.60
0.40-0.01650.01670.22-0.01-0.64
0.37-0.0167.50.01630.21-0.01-0.68

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 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