Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 11:30 PM ET

GSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.47
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$31-4.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.58±4.9% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI0.2125 puts / 118 calls
Call wall$32largest call OI
Put wall$31largest put OI
IV3030.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$31-4.5%6d
Fri, Sep 18$31-4.5%34d
Fri, Oct 16$27-16.8%62d
Fri, Jan 15$32-1.4%153d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot31232628313336$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 — 31 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot312325303234363333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GSG open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 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, Aug 21

spot3123253032343611
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot232628313336129%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spotflip 25232530323436+$7K$7K
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, Aug 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.02230.00860.00-0.02-0.02
0.98-0.02240.01100.00-0.02-0.02
0.97-0.02250.01430.00-0.02-0.03
0.92-0.03290.05670.01-0.03-0.08
0.88-0.03300.09090.01-0.03-0.12
0.80-0.04310.15520.01-0.04-0.20
0.63-0.04320.24740.02-0.04-0.38
0.38-0.04330.23450.02-0.04-0.62
0.23-0.04340.15530.01-0.04-0.77
0.15-0.04350.10170.01-0.04-0.85
0.10-0.03360.06970.01-0.03-0.89

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

spot15232731352190
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

spot152127333945364364
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 843 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: GSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk