Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 6, 3:07 AM ET

DOX max pain

Spot (delayed)$56.1
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$55-2.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11±19.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.36146 puts / 403 calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3045.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $70

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 21$55-2.0%15d
Fri, Sep 18$55-2.0%43d
Fri, Oct 16$55-2.0%71d
Fri, Jan 15$55-2.0%162d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55304152637485$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot55304050607085173173
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DOX open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot5530405060708555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot30415263748564%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 70304050607085+$9K$9K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98300.00310.02-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.00350.00600.04-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01400.01080.06-0.01-0.11
0.83-0.01450.01710.09-0.01-0.19
0.72-0.01500.02390.12-0.01-0.30
0.59-0.02550.02870.14-0.02-0.44
0.44-0.02600.02980.14-0.01-0.58
0.31-0.01650.02700.13-0.01-0.71
0.21-0.01700.02220.11-0.01-0.82
0.14-0.01750.01700.08-0.01-0.89
0.06-0.01850.00900.04-0.01-0.98

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

spot304560751004850
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

spot30456075906K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 9K 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: DOX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk