Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 2:34 PM ET

DOMH max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.63
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$2.19-16.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.58±22.1% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI0.03286 puts / 9K calls
Call wall$2.19largest call OI
Put wall$2.19largest put OI
IV3072.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$26Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$2.5-4.9%6d
Fri, Sep 18$2.19-16.7%34d
Fri, Dec 18$2.19-16.7%125d
Fri, Mar 19$2.5-4.9%216d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.19234567$4M$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 — 2.19 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot2.192.194.697.198K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DOMH open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 18

spot2.192.194.697.191717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot2.194.697.19+$25K$25K
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, Sep 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.002.190.44860.00-0.00-0.14
0.12-0.004.690.18490.00-0.00-0.91
0.05-0.007.190.07540.00-0.00-0.97

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

spot2.192.54.6957.199K0
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

spot2.192.54.6957.197.59K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K call contracts, 445 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: DOMH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk