Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 16, 11:11 PM ET

CNQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$47.97
Max pain · Fri, Oct 16$50+4.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.48±9.3% by Fri, Oct 16
Put/Call OI0.50221 puts / 438 calls
Call wall$52.5largest call OI
Put wall$52.5largest put OI
IV3026.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$33Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$42.5-11.4%4d
Fri, Aug 28$45-6.2%11d
Fri, Sep 4$45-6.2%18d
Fri, Sep 11$45-6.2%25d
Fri, Sep 18$45-6.2%32d
Fri, Sep 25$45-6.2%39d
Fri, Oct 16$50+4.2%60d
Fri, Dec 18$40-16.6%123d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot50384145485255$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, Oct 16

spot5037.5455055236236
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CNQ open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 16.

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, Oct 16

spot5037.54550552020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot38414548525537%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spotflip 42.537.5455055+$17K$17K
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, Oct 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0137.50.01350.02-0.01-0.06
0.85-0.0142.50.04130.05-0.01-0.17
0.73-0.02450.06080.07-0.02-0.29
0.56-0.0247.50.07220.08-0.02-0.46
0.38-0.02500.06820.07-0.02-0.64
0.25-0.0152.50.05440.06-0.01-0.77
0.16-0.01550.03930.05-0.01-0.86

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

spot3542.545.548.552.5652K0
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

spot1532.53943.5485424K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 99K call contracts, 38K 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: CNQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk