Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 12, 3:01 AM ET

ECVT max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.12
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$10-1.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.85±18.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.0719 puts / 270 calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3044.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move

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$10-1.2%9d
Fri, Sep 18$10-1.2%37d
Fri, Dec 18$10-1.2%128d
Fri, Mar 19$7.5-25.9%219d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot103712162125$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot102.512.517.522.58484
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ECVT 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

spot102.512.517.522.51313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot101316192225109%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2.512.517.522.5+$1K$1K
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
0.98-0.002.50.00630.00-0.00-0.03
0.58-0.00100.16500.02-0.00-0.43
0.25-0.0012.50.12690.02-0.00-0.79
0.14-0.00150.07160.01-0.00-0.90
0.10-0.0017.50.04740.01-0.00-0.95
0.08-0.00200.03470.01-0.00-0.97
0.06-0.0022.50.02720.01-0.00-0.99
0.05-0.00250.02220.01-0.00-1.00

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

spot2.5101520253K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 76 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: ECVT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk