Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 11:10 AM ET

IDR max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.64
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$30-5.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14±44.2% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.67123 puts / 184 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3074.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$706per 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$35+10.6%6d
Fri, Sep 18$35+10.6%34d
Fri, Nov 20$35+10.6%97d
Fri, Dec 18$20-36.8%125d
Fri, Feb 19$30-5.2%188d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30152331394755$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot301522.53040505757
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IDR 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

spot301522.530405022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15233139475586%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 81.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 251525354555+$886$886
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
0.93-0.01150.00700.03-0.01-0.07
0.85-0.01200.01210.05-0.01-0.14
0.80-0.0122.50.01460.06-0.01-0.19
0.75-0.01250.01690.07-0.01-0.24
0.64-0.02300.02010.08-0.02-0.34
0.54-0.02350.02160.09-0.02-0.45
0.45-0.02400.02150.09-0.02-0.54
0.37-0.02450.02050.09-0.02-0.62
0.30-0.02500.01900.08-0.01-0.69
0.25-0.01550.01730.07-0.01-0.75

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

spot2025354555654920
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

spot1522.53550652K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 4K 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: IDR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk