Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 13, 11:52 AM ET

CMPS max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.33
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$10-30.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5±34.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.397K puts / 17K calls
Call wall$13largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3068.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$149Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $4

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$11-23.2%8d
Fri, Sep 18$12-16.3%36d
Fri, Nov 20$10-30.2%99d
Fri, Jan 15$7-51.2%155d
Fri, Feb 19$7-51.2%190d
Fri, Jan 21$7-51.2%526d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot101612172328$22M$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, Nov 20

spot1016111621265K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CMPS open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot101611162126202202
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1612172328310%71%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 85.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 41611162126+$55K$55K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.0070.01460.01-0.00-0.06
0.92-0.0080.02050.01-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.0190.02770.01-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01100.03570.02-0.01-0.16
0.80-0.01110.04380.02-0.01-0.21
0.74-0.01120.05100.02-0.01-0.27
0.68-0.01130.05670.03-0.01-0.33
0.61-0.01140.06060.03-0.01-0.39
0.55-0.01150.06270.03-0.01-0.45
0.50-0.01160.06320.03-0.01-0.51
0.44-0.01170.06230.03-0.01-0.56
0.39-0.01180.06040.03-0.01-0.61
0.35-0.01190.05790.03-0.01-0.66
0.31-0.01200.05490.03-0.01-0.70
0.28-0.01210.05160.03-0.01-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot161116212617K0
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

spot161116212622K22K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 119K call contracts, 27K 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: CMPS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk