Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 8, 7:57 AM ET

GPRK max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.43
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$7.5-20.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.38±25.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.24105 puts / 440 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3049.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move

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$10+6.0%13d
Fri, Sep 18$7.5-20.5%41d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5-20.5%132d
Fri, Mar 19$10+6.0%223d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.53610131720$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot7.52.57.512.517.5152152
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GPRK 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

spot7.52.57.512.517.51414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3610131720170%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2.57.512.517.5+$2K$2K
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
0.99-0.002.50.00630.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.0050.02600.01-0.00-0.07
0.83-0.007.50.08340.01-0.00-0.19
0.51-0.00100.16010.02-0.00-0.52
0.25-0.0012.50.11060.02-0.00-0.80
0.15-0.00150.06940.01-0.00-0.91
0.10-0.0017.50.04780.01-0.00-0.95
0.08-0.00200.03550.01-0.00-0.98

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

spot2.57.512.517.52K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 403 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: GPRK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk