Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 19, 3:10 AM ET

CYD max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.63
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$60+31.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.3±44.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 12 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
IV3078.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$363per 1% move

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$45-1.4%3d
Fri, Sep 18$45-1.4%31d
Fri, Nov 20$40-12.3%94d
Fri, Dec 18$40-12.3%122d
Fri, Jan 15$25-45.2%150d
Fri, Feb 19$25-45.2%185d
Fri, Mar 19$20-56.2%213d
Fri, Apr 16$60+31.5%241d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60606468727680$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot606065801010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CYD open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 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, Apr 16

spot6060658011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot606580+$306$306
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.44-0.02600.01520.15-0.02-0.57
0.39-0.02650.01470.14-0.02-0.63
0.26-0.02800.01230.12-0.01-0.77

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

spot3045607590870
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

spot17.52540557085100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 586 call contracts, 318 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: CYD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk