Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 16, 7:27 AM ET

GOSS max pain

Spot (delayed)$0.16
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$0.5+221.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.38±241.0% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.134K puts / 33K calls
Call wall$2largest call OI
Put wall$1.5largest put OI
IV3051.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$645per 1% move · flip ≈ $1.5

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$0.5+221.3%5d
Fri, Sep 18$0.5+221.3%33d
Fri, Nov 20$0.5+221.3%96d
Fri, Jan 15$0.5+221.3%152d
Fri, Feb 19$0.5+221.3%187d
Fri, Jan 21$0.5+221.3%523d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot0.5123467$13M$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 — 0.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot0.50.51.53510K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GOSS open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot0.50.51.5357878
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot123467320%162%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 170.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 1.50.51.535+$273$273
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.690.000.51.00250.000.00-0.32
0.570.0011.13270.000.00-0.48
0.500.001.51.15190.000.00-0.60
0.460.0021.14160.000.00-0.71
0.390.0031.09790.000.00-0.87
0.350.0041.04990.00-0.96
0.310.0051.00500.00-0.99
0.270.0070.92780.00-1.00

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

spot0.51.53574K0
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

spot0.51.535721K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 62K call contracts, 5K 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: GOSS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk