Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 7, 1:41 PM ET

GPN max pain

Spot (delayed)$87.7
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$77.5-11.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.45±21.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.90976 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$80largest call OI
Put wall$70largest put OI
IV3039.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$54Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $90

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · 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$80-8.8%13d
Fri, Sep 18$80-8.8%41d
Fri, Oct 16$80-8.8%69d
Fri, Nov 20$75-14.5%104d
Fri, Dec 18$77.5-11.6%132d
Fri, Jan 15$85-3.1%160d
Fri, Feb 19$75-14.5%195d
Fri, Mar 19$70-20.2%223d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot77.535547392111130$4M$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 — 77.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot77.5355567.577.595115274274
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GPN 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

spot77.5355567.577.59511522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3554739211113094%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 90355567.577.595115+$20K$20K
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
0.85-0.0267.50.00890.12-0.02-0.15
0.82-0.02700.01010.13-0.02-0.17
0.79-0.0272.50.01140.15-0.03-0.20
0.76-0.03750.01260.16-0.03-0.24
0.72-0.0377.50.01380.17-0.03-0.27
0.69-0.03800.01490.18-0.03-0.31
0.60-0.03850.01660.20-0.03-0.39
0.52-0.03900.01740.21-0.03-0.48
0.43-0.03950.01730.21-0.03-0.56
0.36-0.031000.01650.20-0.03-0.64
0.29-0.031050.01510.18-0.03-0.71
0.24-0.031100.01340.16-0.02-0.77
0.19-0.021150.01170.14-0.02-0.82
0.16-0.021200.01010.13-0.02-0.85
0.10-0.021300.00740.10-0.01-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot356070809511511K0
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

spot356077.510013517017K17K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 64K call contracts, 49K 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: GPN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk