Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 16, 11:07 PM ET

HELP max pain

Spot (delayed)$12
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$5-58.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.65±80.4% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.3491 puts / 267 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3095.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$722per 1% move · flip ≈ $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$5-58.3%4d
Fri, Sep 18$7.5-37.5%32d
Fri, Nov 20$5-58.3%95d
Fri, Dec 18$5-58.3%123d
Fri, Jan 15$5-58.3%151d
Fri, Feb 19$5-58.3%186d
Fri, Mar 19$5-58.3%214d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot53610131720$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 — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot52.57.512.517.5161161
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HELP open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot52.57.512.517.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot3610131720244%94%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 140.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 52.57.512.517.5+$589$589
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.00-0.002.50.00410.01-0.00-0.03
0.97-0.0150.01200.01-0.01-0.08
0.90-0.017.50.01980.02-0.01-0.16
0.82-0.01100.02540.03-0.01-0.24
0.75-0.0112.50.02870.03-0.01-0.31
0.69-0.01150.03040.03-0.01-0.37
0.64-0.0117.50.03110.04-0.01-0.42
0.59-0.01200.03120.04-0.01-0.47

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

spot2.57.512.517.56K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.512K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 32K 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: HELP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk