Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 12, 3:16 PM ET

NSLR max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.8
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$10-7.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.03±9.5% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI0.60879 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3048.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$10-7.4%7d
Fri, Sep 18$10-7.4%35d
Fri, Dec 18$10-7.4%126d
Fri, Mar 19$10-7.4%217d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1081115182225$2M$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot107.51012.51522.5251K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NSLR open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 21.

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, Aug 21

spot107.51012.51522.52599
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spotflip 107.51012.51522.525+$12K$12K
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, Aug 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.017.50.03810.00-0.01-0.04
0.79-0.02100.26670.01-0.02-0.21
0.09-0.0112.50.14240.00-0.01-0.91
0.03-0.01150.03450.00-0.01-0.97
0.01-0.0022.50.00480.00-0.00-0.99
0.00-0.00250.00320.000.00-0.99

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.52K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 3K 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: NSLR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk