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Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 1, 3:43 AM ET

MARA max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.28
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$11-2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.29±46.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.7241K puts / 58K calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$7largest put OI
IV3098.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$147Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · 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 7$12+6.4%6d
Fri, Aug 14$11.5+1.9%13d
Fri, Aug 21$13+15.2%20d
Fri, Aug 28$11.5+1.9%27d
Fri, Sep 4$11.5+1.9%34d
Fri, Sep 11$11-2.5%41d
Fri, Sep 18$12+6.4%48d
Fri, Dec 18$11-2.5%139d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot111713202632$79M$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 — 11 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot11171319253113K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MARA open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot111713192531924924
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1713202632280%87%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 97.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 22814202632+$59K$59K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0040.00930.01-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.0050.01520.01-0.00-0.06
0.91-0.0060.02240.01-0.00-0.09
0.87-0.0170.03030.01-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.0180.03800.02-0.01-0.19
0.77-0.0190.04500.02-0.01-0.24
0.71-0.01100.05080.02-0.01-0.30
0.65-0.01110.05510.03-0.01-0.36
0.60-0.01120.05800.03-0.01-0.41
0.54-0.01130.05940.03-0.01-0.47
0.49-0.01140.05970.03-0.01-0.52
0.45-0.01150.05910.03-0.01-0.57
0.40-0.01160.05780.03-0.01-0.61
0.37-0.01170.05590.03-0.01-0.65
0.33-0.01180.05380.03-0.01-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot18.512.516.5223049K0
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

spot17.51216.52332128K128K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 921K call contracts, 684K 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: MARA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk