Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 1:56 AM ET

MBUU max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.16
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$30+2.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.25±31.7% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI4.60198 puts / 43 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3056.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1Kper 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$27.5-5.7%8d
Fri, Sep 18$27.5-5.7%36d
Fri, Nov 20$27.5-5.7%99d
Fri, Feb 19$30+2.9%190d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30152025303540$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot301520253037.5164164
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MBUU 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

spot301520253037.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15202530354093%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot1520253037.5+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00150.00780.03-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.0117.50.01140.04-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.01200.01590.05-0.01-0.14
0.81-0.0122.50.02120.06-0.01-0.20
0.74-0.01250.02670.07-0.01-0.26
0.67-0.0127.50.03170.08-0.01-0.35
0.58-0.01300.03530.08-0.01-0.44
0.41-0.01350.03650.08-0.01-0.62
0.34-0.0137.50.03440.08-0.01-0.70
0.27-0.01400.03140.07-0.01-0.77

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

spot17.525303540455860
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

spot12.52027.53542.5929929
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 2K 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: MBUU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk