Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 12, 3:55 AM ET

IIPR max pain

Spot (delayed)$57.68
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$55-4.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.1±17.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.033K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3029.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$119Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60

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$60+4.0%7d
Fri, Sep 18$60+4.0%35d
Fri, Oct 16$55-4.6%63d
Fri, Dec 18$55-4.6%126d
Fri, Jan 15$60+4.0%154d
Thu, Jun 17$55-4.6%307d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55304356698295$8M$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5530456075901K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IIPR 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

spot5530456075901111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot30435669829564%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 603045607590+$81K$81K
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
1.00300.00060.00-0.00-0.02
0.99350.00220.01-0.01-0.04
0.97-0.00400.00640.02-0.01-0.07
0.92-0.01450.01510.05-0.01-0.14
0.81-0.01500.02740.09-0.01-0.25
0.64-0.02550.03670.12-0.02-0.41
0.45-0.02600.03710.13-0.02-0.59
0.30-0.01650.03110.12-0.01-0.74
0.20-0.01700.02360.09-0.01-0.85
0.13-0.01750.01720.07-0.01-0.91
0.09-0.01800.01250.05-0.00-0.95
0.06-0.01850.00920.04-0.00-0.97
0.05-0.01900.00680.03-0.98
0.03-0.00950.00520.03-0.99

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

spot3550607080901K0
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

spot25405570855K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 10K 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: IIPR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk