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

ERO max pain

Spot (delayed)$33.8
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$22.5-33.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.4±36.7% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.1756 puts / 335 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3053.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 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$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$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot22.512.517.522.5304050148148
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ERO open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot22.512.517.522.5304050300300
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot13202835435079%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 17.512.517.522.5304050+$4K$4K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.0012.50.00260.01-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.00150.00440.02-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.0017.50.00670.03-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01200.00960.04-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.0122.50.01280.06-0.01-0.13
0.82-0.01250.01620.07-0.01-0.18
0.70-0.01300.02210.09-0.01-0.30
0.58-0.01350.02540.10-0.01-0.43
0.46-0.01400.02600.10-0.01-0.55
0.36-0.01450.02450.10-0.01-0.66
0.28-0.01500.02190.09-0.01-0.75

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