Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 4:00 AM ET

LX max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.45
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$2+37.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.88±60.3% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.10122 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$2largest call OI
Put wall$2largest put OI
IV3071.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $1

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$1.5+3.5%7d
Fri, Sep 18$1.5+3.5%35d
Fri, Nov 20$2.5+72.4%98d
Fri, Dec 18$2+37.9%126d
Fri, Jan 15$2+37.9%154d
Fri, Feb 19$1.5+3.5%189d
Fri, Dec 17$2+37.9%490d
Fri, Jan 21$2.5+72.4%525d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2112345$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 — 2 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot20.511.522.55943943
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LX open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot20.511.522.5511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot112345150%65%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 69.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 10.511.522.55+$897$897
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.000.50.11620.000.00-0.10
1.000.0010.33800.000.00-0.28
0.830.001.50.47090.010.00-0.46
0.690.0020.50100.010.00-0.59
0.590.002.50.48860.010.00-0.69
0.370.0050.37520.01-0.92

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

spot0.51.52.57.52K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.57K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 9K 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: LX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk