Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 21, 12:40 AM ET

GFF max pain

Spot (delayed)$100.13
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$60-40.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.65±16.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.256 puts / 24 calls
Call wall$85largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3032.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$85-15.1%1d
Fri, Sep 18$100-0.1%29d
Fri, Oct 16$80-20.1%57d
Fri, Dec 18$70-30.1%120d
Fri, Jan 15$60-40.1%148d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60456483102121140$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot60455570851201401111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GFF 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

spot604555708512014011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot45648310212114094%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 5045557085120140+$1K$1K
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
0.97450.00120.03-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.00500.00170.04-0.01-0.03
0.96-0.01550.00220.06-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01600.00300.07-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.01700.00530.11-0.02-0.09
0.84-0.02800.00890.15-0.02-0.16
0.79-0.02850.01130.18-0.02-0.21
0.65-0.03950.01670.23-0.03-0.35
0.23-0.021200.01490.20-0.02-0.79
0.19-0.021250.01270.17-0.02-0.84
0.10-0.011400.00760.12-0.01-0.94

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

spot608595105980
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

spot406080100120140116116
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 362 call contracts, 27 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: GFF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk