Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 11:10 PM ET

DAC max pain

Spot (delayed)$141.92
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$105-26.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.55±13.8% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.081 puts / 13 calls
Call wall$120largest call OI
Put wall$105largest put OI
IV3025.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $120

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$135-4.9%5d
Fri, Sep 18$140-1.4%33d
Fri, Oct 16$130-8.4%61d
Fri, Nov 20$115-19.0%96d
Fri, Dec 18$110-22.5%124d
Fri, Jan 15$120-15.4%152d
Fri, Feb 19$105-26.0%187d
Fri, Mar 19$100-29.5%215d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot105105115125135145155$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 — 105 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot1051051201551010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DAC open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot10510512015511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 120105120155+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.011050.00450.16-0.01-0.09
0.83-0.021200.00870.26-0.02-0.17
0.34-0.021550.01600.37-0.02-0.68

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

spot1051201351501657150
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

spot45751051351651953K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 3K 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: DAC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk