Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 3:19 AM ET

EPM max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.75
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$2.5-33.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.25±33.3% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI0.075 puts / 72 calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3035.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$213per 1% move · flip ≈ $5

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$2.5-33.3%7d
Fri, Sep 18$2.5-33.3%35d
Fri, Oct 16$5+33.3%63d
Fri, Jan 15$5+33.3%154d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.5345678$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot2.52.557.57070
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EPM open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 21.

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, Aug 21

spot2.52.557.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spotflip 52.557.5+$218$218
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, Aug 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.012.50.09810.00-0.01-0.04
0.09-0.0150.22110.00-0.01-0.91
0.04-0.017.50.06100.00-0.01-0.96

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

spot2.557.52K0
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

spot2.557.53K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 350 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: EPM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk