Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 5, 9:06 PM ET

COP max pain

Spot (delayed)$115.35
Max pain · Fri, Sep 4$112-2.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.78±7.6% by Fri, Sep 4
Put/Call OI0.61152 puts / 248 calls
Call wall$132largest call OI
Put wall$105largest put OI
IV3033.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $132
Earnings · expectedThu, Aug 6usually before the open

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 7$114-1.2%2d← 1st expiry after earnings (Thu, Aug 6)
Fri, Aug 14$114-1.2%9d
Fri, Aug 21$115-0.3%16d
Fri, Aug 28$115-0.3%23d
Fri, Sep 4$112-2.9%30d
Fri, Sep 11$110-4.6%37d
Fri, Sep 18$110-4.6%44d
Fri, Oct 16$115-0.3%72d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot11290101112123134145$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 — 112 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot11290110115120127135124124
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)COP open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 4.

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, Sep 4

spot11290110115120127135452452
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot9010111212313414545%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spotflip 13290110115120127135+$24K$24K
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, Sep 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.79-0.061070.02860.09-0.06-0.23
0.76-0.061080.03070.10-0.06-0.26
0.69-0.071100.03420.11-0.07-0.32
0.66-0.071110.03550.12-0.07-0.36
0.62-0.071120.03650.12-0.07-0.39
0.59-0.071130.03710.13-0.07-0.43
0.55-0.071140.03740.13-0.07-0.46
0.51-0.071150.03740.13-0.07-0.50
0.47-0.071160.03710.13-0.07-0.54
0.44-0.071170.03640.13-0.07-0.57
0.40-0.071180.03560.13-0.07-0.61
0.37-0.071190.03440.12-0.07-0.64
0.34-0.071200.03320.12-0.07-0.67
0.31-0.071210.03170.12-0.07-0.70
0.28-0.061220.03010.11-0.06-0.73

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot70951061171281556K0
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

spot42.587.510011312615524K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 171K call contracts, 126K 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: COP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk