Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 15, 11:12 PM ET

ERO max pain

Spot (delayed)$33.8
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$22.5-33.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.25±30.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.01362 puts / 24K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3053.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$805Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22.5

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$30-11.2%5d
Fri, Sep 18$30-11.2%33d
Fri, Oct 16$30-11.2%61d
Fri, Nov 20$30-11.2%96d
Fri, Dec 18$30-11.2%124d
Fri, Jan 15$22.5-33.4%152d
Fri, Mar 19$22.5-33.4%215d
Thu, Jun 17$22.5-33.4%305d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.5132028354350$35M$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot22.512.517.522.530405013K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ERO 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

spot22.512.517.522.5304050422422
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot132028354350109%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 58.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 22.512.517.522.5304050+$448K$448K
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
0.99-0.0012.50.00190.01-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.00150.00350.01-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.0017.50.00590.02-0.00-0.04
0.93-0.01200.00930.03-0.01-0.07
0.89-0.0122.50.01340.04-0.01-0.11
0.84-0.01250.01800.05-0.01-0.16
0.71-0.01300.02650.07-0.01-0.30
0.56-0.02350.03100.09-0.02-0.45
0.41-0.02400.03080.09-0.02-0.60
0.30-0.01450.02730.08-0.01-0.72
0.21-0.01500.02260.06-0.01-0.82

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

spot12.517.522.530405018K0
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

spot12.517.522.530405036K36K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 105K call contracts, 16K 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: ERO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk