Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 1:23 AM ET

IPAR max pain

Spot (delayed)$112.01
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$100-10.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.75±16.7% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.2918 puts / 62 calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3030.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $150

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Sep 18$100-10.7%6d
Fri, Oct 16$115+2.7%34d
Fri, Nov 20$100-10.7%69d
Fri, Feb 19$100-10.7%160d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1006082104126148170$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 — 100 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot10060901151501705454
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IPAR 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

spot100609011515017011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot608210412614817080%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 1506090115150170+$6K$6K
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
0.97-0.01600.00240.06-0.01-0.04
0.90-0.02800.00540.13-0.02-0.10
0.87-0.02850.00680.15-0.02-0.13
0.83-0.02900.00870.18-0.02-0.17
0.79-0.02950.01070.21-0.02-0.21
0.73-0.031000.01300.24-0.03-0.27
0.49-0.031150.01750.29-0.03-0.52
0.41-0.031200.01720.28-0.03-0.60
0.19-0.021400.01100.20-0.02-0.83
0.14-0.021500.00830.17-0.02-0.89
0.11-0.021600.00640.14-0.02-0.93
0.09-0.011650.00570.12-0.02-0.95
0.08-0.011700.00510.11-0.02-0.96

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

spot851101251401603090
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

spot457095120145170309309
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 599 call contracts, 43 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: IPAR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk