Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 17, 1:10 AM ET

CRC max pain

Spot (delayed)$53.31
Max pain · Fri, Oct 16$55+3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.6±12.4% by Fri, Oct 16
Put/Call OI0.2934 puts / 117 calls
Call wall$62.5largest call OI
Put wall$42.5largest put OI
IV3036.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $55

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$52.5-1.5%4d
Fri, Sep 18$55+3.2%32d
Fri, Oct 16$55+3.2%60d
Fri, Dec 18$50-6.2%123d
Fri, Jan 15$50-6.2%151d
Fri, Apr 16$45-15.6%242d
Fri, Jul 16$32.5-39.0%333d
Fri, Dec 17$50-6.2%487d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot553044587286100$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot553047.557.567.5852828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CRC 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

spot553047.557.567.58533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot3044587286100106%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spotflip 553047.557.567.585+$2K$2K
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
0.98-0.01300.00320.01-0.01-0.03
0.93-0.01400.01360.03-0.01-0.09
0.89-0.0242.50.01900.04-0.02-0.12
0.85-0.02450.02610.05-0.02-0.16
0.78-0.0247.50.03480.07-0.02-0.23
0.68-0.02500.04390.08-0.02-0.32
0.56-0.0352.50.05000.09-0.03-0.44
0.44-0.03550.04990.09-0.03-0.56
0.34-0.0257.50.04440.08-0.02-0.67
0.26-0.02600.03710.07-0.02-0.75
0.20-0.0262.50.03040.06-0.02-0.81
0.16-0.02650.02500.05-0.02-0.85
0.13-0.0267.50.02070.05-0.02-0.88
0.11-0.02700.01730.04-0.02-0.90

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4052.56067.580954040
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

spot22.53547.56072.5901K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 1K 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: CRC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk