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

CRC max pain

Spot (delayed)$53.31
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$50-6.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.95±18.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.92878 puts / 956 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3036.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

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 · 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, 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

spot503044587286100$3M$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, Dec 18

spot50304050607085397397
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CRC 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

spot5030405060708522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot304458728610084%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 65304050607085+$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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.01350.00850.04-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.0137.50.01090.05-0.01-0.10
0.88-0.01400.01390.06-0.01-0.13
0.84-0.0142.50.01770.07-0.01-0.17
0.79-0.01450.02220.09-0.01-0.21
0.73-0.0247.50.02700.10-0.02-0.28
0.66-0.02500.03130.11-0.02-0.35
0.57-0.0252.50.03410.12-0.02-0.44
0.49-0.02550.03470.12-0.02-0.52
0.41-0.0257.50.03330.12-0.02-0.60
0.34-0.02600.03070.11-0.02-0.66
0.29-0.0262.50.02760.10-0.02-0.72
0.24-0.02650.02450.10-0.02-0.76
0.21-0.0167.50.02160.09-0.01-0.80
0.18-0.01700.01910.08-0.01-0.83

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

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