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

CRC max pain

Spot (delayed)$53.31
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$50-6.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.1±35.8% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.251 puts / 4 calls
Call wall$80largest call OI
Put wall$52.5largest put OI
IV3036.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$116per 1% move · flip ≈ $52.5

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

spot50505662687480$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot505052.58033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CRC open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot505052.58011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 52.55052.580+$119$119
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.66-0.01500.01480.21-0.01-0.35
0.62-0.0152.50.01550.22-0.01-0.39
0.28-0.01800.01390.20-0.01-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. 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