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Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Jul 31, 11:11 PM ET

CM max pain

Spot (delayed)$118.55
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$115-3.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.75±11.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.95403 puts / 422 calls
Call wall$115largest call OI
Put wall$110largest put OI
IV3021.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$42Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $125

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · 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$115-3.0%20d
Fri, Sep 18$100-15.6%48d
Fri, Dec 18$115-3.0%139d
Fri, Jan 15$105-11.4%167d
Fri, Mar 19$100-15.6%230d
Fri, Jan 21$110-7.2%538d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1156583101119137155$2M$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot115658597.51101251409999
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CM 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

spot115658597.511012514044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot658310111913715544%17%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 23.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 125658597.5110125140+$20K$20K
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
0.94-0.01900.00500.08-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.01950.00730.11-0.01-0.08
0.90-0.0197.50.00870.13-0.01-0.10
0.88-0.011000.01030.15-0.01-0.13
0.82-0.021050.01420.19-0.02-0.19
0.74-0.021100.01850.24-0.02-0.27
0.64-0.021150.02250.27-0.02-0.37
0.52-0.021200.02520.29-0.02-0.50
0.39-0.021250.02530.28-0.02-0.64
0.28-0.021300.02270.25-0.02-0.76
0.18-0.011350.01810.20-0.01-0.86
0.11-0.011400.01320.14-0.01-0.93
0.07-0.011450.00910.10-0.01-0.98
0.03-0.001550.00390.05-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot70901001201402K0
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

spot3057.57592.51201555K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 12K 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: CM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk