Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 7, 2:38 AM ET

CLB max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.18
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$10-10.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.15±28.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.1073 puts / 735 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3056.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · 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$10-10.6%14d
Fri, Sep 18$12.5+11.8%42d
Fri, Dec 18$10-10.6%133d
Fri, Mar 19$12.5+11.8%224d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1051015202530$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot10510152025261261
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CLB 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

spot1051015202566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot81217212630116%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 10510152025+$3K$3K
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
0.93-0.0050.01600.01-0.01-0.07
0.86-0.007.50.03840.02-0.01-0.15
0.71-0.01100.08700.02-0.01-0.29
0.43-0.0012.50.12560.03-0.00-0.59
0.26-0.00150.08720.02-0.00-0.77
0.19-0.0017.50.06130.02-0.00-0.85
0.15-0.00200.04680.02-0.00-0.89
0.13-0.0022.50.03790.01-0.00-0.91
0.11-0.00250.03200.01-0.00-0.93
0.09-0.00300.02440.01-0.00-0.96

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

spot510152025354130
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.530424424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 171 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: CLB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk