Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 17, 4:52 PM ET

INDV max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.97
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$35-10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.73±17.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.43158 puts / 365 calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3053.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$35-10.2%4d
Fri, Sep 18$35-10.2%32d
Fri, Nov 20$35-10.2%95d
Fri, Dec 18$35-10.2%123d
Fri, Jan 15$40+2.6%151d
Fri, Feb 19$50+28.3%186d
Fri, Mar 19$40+2.6%214d
Fri, Dec 17$45+15.5%487d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35202836445260$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot35202529333850308308
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)INDV open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot3520252933385022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot202836445260118%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 45202529333850+$18K$18K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.81-0.01310.02380.05-0.02-0.18
0.79-0.02320.02630.06-0.02-0.21
0.76-0.02330.02870.06-0.02-0.24
0.72-0.02340.03120.07-0.02-0.27
0.69-0.02350.03350.07-0.02-0.30
0.62-0.02370.03740.07-0.02-0.37
0.58-0.02380.03900.08-0.02-0.41
0.54-0.02390.04010.08-0.02-0.45
0.49-0.02400.04090.08-0.02-0.49
0.30-0.02450.03780.07-0.01-0.69
0.15-0.01500.02670.05-0.01-0.84
0.06-0.01550.01470.03-0.00-0.93
0.02-0.00600.00660.01-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot20303540466019K0
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

spot1022.52936435519K19K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 29K 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: INDV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk