Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 27, 4:31 AM ET

NOG max pain

Spot (delayed)$25.8
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$15-41.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.8±38.0% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.19699 puts / 4K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$18largest put OI
IV3041.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$42Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $13

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, Sep 18$20-22.5%21d
Fri, Oct 16$27+4.7%49d
Fri, Dec 18$20-22.5%112d
Fri, Jan 15$27+4.7%140d
Fri, Mar 19$15-41.9%203d
Fri, Dec 17$15-41.9%476d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15101724313845$9M$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot1510182532451K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NOG 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

spot1510182532452121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot10172431384558%44%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 131018253245+$14K$14K
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
1.00100.00530.02-0.00-0.03
0.99130.00380.00-0.00-0.08
0.95-0.00150.01560.02-0.00-0.12
0.85-0.00180.02260.06-0.00-0.19
0.78-0.00200.02580.08-0.00-0.24
0.72-0.00220.02870.09-0.00-0.30
0.62-0.00250.03180.10-0.00-0.40
0.56-0.01270.03290.11-0.00-0.46
0.47-0.01300.03320.11-0.00-0.54
0.42-0.01320.03270.11-0.00-0.59
0.35-0.00350.03100.10-0.00-0.67
0.25-0.00400.02700.09-0.00-0.76
0.18-0.00450.02230.07-0.00-0.84

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

spot1017222631363K0
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

spot1017222733405K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 27K call contracts, 17K 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: NOG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk