Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 17, 4:30 PM ET

IVA max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.68
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$2.5-46.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.55±118.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 41K calls
Call wall$2.5largest call OI
IV30145.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$50Kper 1% move

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$2.5-46.6%4d
Fri, Sep 18$5+6.8%32d
Fri, Nov 20$5+6.8%95d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5-46.6%151d
Fri, Feb 19$2.5-46.6%186d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.53467910$15M$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.52.551020K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IVA open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot2.52.551011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.5510+$35K$35K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.002.50.03310.01-0.00-0.12
0.75-0.0150.06450.01-0.01-0.30
0.49-0.01100.07960.01-0.01-0.56

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

spot2.557.5102040
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

spot2.557.51021K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41K call contracts, 421 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: IVA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk