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

NNE max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.98
Max pain · Fri, Oct 16$23+27.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.2±34.5% by Fri, Oct 16
Put/Call OI0.375K puts / 12K calls
Call wall$26largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV30100.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$83Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $26

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 — 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

spot2361320273441$16M$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 — 23 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot23612182430365K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NNE open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 16.

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, Oct 16

spot2361218243036254254
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot61320273441163%94%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 98.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spotflip 2661319253137+$58K$58K
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, Oct 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.01110.02150.01-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.01120.02670.02-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.01130.03190.02-0.01-0.17
0.78-0.02140.03680.02-0.02-0.22
0.73-0.02150.04120.03-0.02-0.27
0.68-0.02160.04480.03-0.02-0.31
0.63-0.02170.04750.03-0.02-0.36
0.58-0.02180.04920.03-0.02-0.41
0.53-0.02190.05000.03-0.02-0.46
0.49-0.02200.05000.03-0.02-0.51
0.44-0.02210.04940.03-0.02-0.55
0.40-0.02220.04830.03-0.02-0.59
0.37-0.02230.04680.03-0.02-0.63
0.33-0.02240.04490.03-0.02-0.66
0.30-0.02250.04300.03-0.02-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 36 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