Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 6, 9:08 PM ET

DAL max pain

Spot (delayed)$91.84
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$72.5-21.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.65±19.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.2432K puts / 26K calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3035.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.2Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $90

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · 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 7$89-3.1%1d
Fri, Aug 14$87-5.3%8d
Fri, Aug 21$87.5-4.7%15d
Fri, Aug 28$87-5.3%22d
Fri, Sep 4$87-5.3%29d
Fri, Sep 11$89-3.1%36d
Fri, Sep 18$80-12.9%43d
Fri, Dec 18$72.5-21.1%134d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot72.520446892116140$149M$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 — 72.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot72.520385572.5901153K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DAL 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

spot72.520385572.590115715715
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot20446892116140134%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 39.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 9020385572.590115+$373K$373K
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
0.84-0.02750.01040.14-0.02-0.17
0.81-0.0277.50.01180.15-0.02-0.20
0.77-0.02800.01310.17-0.03-0.23
0.73-0.0382.50.01440.18-0.03-0.27
0.69-0.03850.01550.20-0.03-0.31
0.65-0.0387.50.01650.21-0.03-0.35
0.61-0.03900.01730.21-0.03-0.40
0.56-0.0392.50.01780.22-0.03-0.45
0.52-0.03950.01820.22-0.03-0.49
0.48-0.0397.50.01830.22-0.03-0.54
0.43-0.031000.01810.22-0.03-0.58
0.35-0.031050.01720.21-0.03-0.67
0.28-0.031100.01570.19-0.03-0.74
0.22-0.021150.01380.17-0.02-0.81
0.17-0.021200.01180.14-0.02-0.87

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 41 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot457482899710512K0
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

spot205074849410525K25K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 193K call contracts, 211K 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: DAL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk