Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 9:08 PM ET

EXC max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.86
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$46+0.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.28±9.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.44690 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3017.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$79Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $48

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$47+2.5%6d
Fri, Sep 18$45-1.9%34d
Fri, Oct 16$46+0.3%62d
Fri, Dec 18$46+0.3%125d
Fri, Jan 15$44-4.1%153d
Fri, Mar 19$43-6.2%216d
Thu, Jun 17$45-1.9%306d
Fri, Jan 21$45-1.9%524d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot46253341495765$2M$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 — 46 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot462538454855326326
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EXC 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

spot4625384548558686
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot25334149576557%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 19.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 482538454855+$34K$34K
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
1.000.00250.00020.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.00330.00710.01-0.00-0.04
0.97-0.00350.01310.02-0.00-0.06
0.92-0.01380.02680.04-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.01400.03910.06-0.01-0.16
0.73-0.01430.06290.09-0.01-0.30
0.59-0.01450.07660.10-0.01-0.43
0.51-0.01460.07900.10-0.01-0.51
0.43-0.01470.07760.10-0.01-0.59
0.36-0.01480.07290.10-0.01-0.66
0.30-0.01490.06630.09-0.01-0.72
0.25-0.01500.05890.09-0.01-0.77
0.11-0.01550.02930.05-0.00-0.91
0.06-0.00600.01530.03-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.00650.00880.02-0.00-0.98

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

spot23404346496010K0
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

spot203340455012K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 34K call contracts, 18K 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: EXC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk