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

CR max pain

Spot (delayed)$201.82
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$140-30.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$39.95±19.8% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.032 puts / 69 calls
Call wall$165largest call OI
Put wall$125largest put OI
IV3028.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$18Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $140

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

spot140125168211254297340$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 — 140 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot1401251652102302503201515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CR open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot14012516521023025032011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot12516821125429734048%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 140125165210230250320+$3K$3K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.011250.00150.14-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.021400.00240.22-0.02-0.08
0.82-0.041650.00460.37-0.04-0.18
0.59-0.052000.00760.56-0.05-0.41
0.52-0.052100.00800.58-0.05-0.50
0.44-0.052200.00800.57-0.05-0.58
0.37-0.052300.00770.55-0.05-0.66
0.30-0.042400.00710.51-0.05-0.73
0.25-0.042500.00650.46-0.05-0.79
0.11-0.022900.00370.27-0.03-0.97
0.06-0.023200.00220.17-0.01-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 12 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