Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 6, 10:06 AM ET

NNE max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.98
Max pain · Fri, Sep 4$20+11.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.2±23.4% by Fri, Sep 4
Put/Call OI0.49118 puts / 240 calls
Call wall$21largest call OI
Put wall$23largest put OI
IV30100.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 7$17-5.5%1d
Fri, Aug 14$17.5-2.7%8d
Fri, Aug 21$20+11.2%15d
Fri, Aug 28$16-11.0%22d
Fri, Sep 4$20+11.2%29d
Fri, Sep 11$19.5+8.5%36d
Fri, Sep 18$18+0.1%43d
Fri, Oct 16$23+27.9%71d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2051015202530$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot20512151821256666
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NNE open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 4.

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, Sep 4

spot205121518212544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot51015202530282%90%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 102.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spotflip 7712.515.5192230+$1K$1K
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, Sep 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.80-0.0214.50.05110.01-0.03-0.20
0.77-0.03150.05630.02-0.03-0.23
0.74-0.0315.50.06130.02-0.03-0.26
0.70-0.03160.06570.02-0.03-0.29
0.67-0.0316.50.06950.02-0.03-0.33
0.63-0.03170.07260.02-0.03-0.37
0.59-0.0317.50.07480.02-0.03-0.41
0.55-0.03180.07610.02-0.03-0.45
0.52-0.0318.50.07670.02-0.03-0.48
0.48-0.03190.07650.02-0.03-0.52
0.44-0.0319.50.07560.02-0.03-0.56
0.41-0.03200.07410.02-0.03-0.59
0.38-0.0320.50.07220.02-0.03-0.62
0.35-0.03210.06990.02-0.03-0.65
0.32-0.0321.50.06740.02-0.03-0.68

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot11014.51923.5282K0
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

spot11218.52531.5425K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 61K call contracts, 31K 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: NNE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk