Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 12:26 AM ET

CR max pain

Spot (delayed)$201.82
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$195-3.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.35±14.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.11100 puts / 875 calls
Call wall$250largest call OI
Put wall$130largest put OI
IV3028.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$219Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $190

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Sep 18$210+4.1%6d
Fri, Oct 16$200-0.9%34d
Fri, Nov 20$170-15.8%69d
Fri, Dec 18$195-3.4%97d
Fri, Mar 19$140-30.6%188d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot195105146187228269310$6M$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 — 195 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot195105125170190220260676676
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CR 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

spot19510512517019022026011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot10514618722826931077%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 190105125170190220260+$176K$176K
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
0.93-0.031450.00260.14-0.03-0.07
0.83-0.051700.00590.26-0.05-0.17
0.80-0.061750.00680.29-0.06-0.20
0.77-0.061800.00770.32-0.06-0.23
0.72-0.071850.00860.35-0.07-0.28
0.68-0.071900.00950.37-0.07-0.32
0.63-0.071950.01020.39-0.07-0.37
0.58-0.072000.01080.41-0.07-0.43
0.47-0.072100.01120.41-0.07-0.54
0.36-0.072200.01060.39-0.07-0.65
0.28-0.062300.00930.35-0.07-0.74
0.21-0.052400.00780.30-0.06-0.81
0.16-0.052500.00640.26-0.05-0.87
0.12-0.042600.00520.21-0.05-0.91
0.09-0.032700.00420.18-0.04-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1051601852202703201310
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

spot100130160190240300882882
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 2K 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: CR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk