Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 5, 3:27 PM ET

FIZZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.98
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$35+9.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.85±15.2% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI3.6018 puts / 5 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3037.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$857per 1% move
Earnings · expectedFri, Sep 11usually after the close

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$16.75-47.6%16d
Fri, Sep 18$35+9.4%44d← 1st expiry after earnings (Fri, Sep 11)
Fri, Oct 16$31.75-0.7%72d
Fri, Jan 15$26.75-16.4%163d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35232528303335$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot3522.530351212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FIZZ open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 18

spot3522.5303511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot22.53035+$890$890
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, Sep 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.0122.50.01540.01-0.01-0.07
0.71-0.02300.07140.04-0.02-0.29
0.29-0.02350.08000.04-0.02-0.72

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

spot16.7526.75354046.752130
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

spot14.2519.2522.53036.7545220220
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 652 call contracts, 288 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: FIZZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk