Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 16, 11:08 PM ET

DRD max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.19
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$20-17.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.58±35.4% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.1370 puts / 524 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3065.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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$22.5-7.0%4d
Fri, Sep 18$22.5-7.0%32d
Fri, Nov 20$22.5-7.0%95d
Fri, Feb 19$20-17.3%186d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20152024293338$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot201520253035138138
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DRD 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

spot20152025303511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15202429333872%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 17.51520253035+$3K$3K
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
0.91-0.01150.01550.03-0.01-0.10
0.85-0.0117.50.02320.04-0.01-0.16
0.77-0.01200.03160.05-0.01-0.24
0.68-0.0122.50.03760.06-0.01-0.34
0.58-0.01250.03990.07-0.01-0.45
0.49-0.0127.50.03930.07-0.01-0.54
0.42-0.01300.03730.07-0.01-0.61
0.36-0.0132.50.03460.07-0.01-0.68
0.31-0.01350.03170.06-0.01-0.73
0.27-0.0137.50.02890.06-0.01-0.78

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

spot1522.53037.545553150
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

spot1017.52532.54047.5347347
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 426 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: DRD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk