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

INDV max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.97
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$40+2.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.8±27.7% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.4476 puts / 171 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3053.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 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$35-10.2%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

spot40202836445260$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot4020283745555050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)INDV open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot40202837455511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot20283644526065%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 252028374555+$2K$2K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00200.00560.03-0.00-0.05
0.92-0.00230.00820.04-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.01250.01050.05-0.01-0.10
0.85-0.01280.01460.07-0.01-0.14
0.81-0.01300.01760.08-0.01-0.18
0.69-0.01350.02470.10-0.01-0.30
0.64-0.01370.02680.11-0.01-0.36
0.55-0.01400.02870.12-0.01-0.45
0.49-0.01420.02920.12-0.01-0.51
0.42-0.01450.02880.12-0.01-0.59
0.37-0.01470.02790.11-0.01-0.64
0.30-0.01500.02590.10-0.01-0.71
0.21-0.01550.02160.09-0.01-0.81
0.15-0.01600.01710.07-0.01-0.89

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

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