Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 16, 4:51 AM ET

NVTS max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.53
Max pain · Fri, Oct 2$13.5-7.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.89±26.8% by Fri, Oct 2
Put/Call OI0.103 puts / 30 calls
Call wall$15.5largest call OI
Put wall$9largest put OI
IV3090.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$461per 1% move · flip ≈ $13.5

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$12-17.4%5d
Fri, Aug 28$13-10.5%12d
Fri, Sep 4$12.5-13.9%19d
Fri, Sep 11$12.5-13.9%26d
Fri, Sep 18$15+3.3%33d
Fri, Sep 25$12-17.4%40d
Fri, Oct 2$13.5-7.1%47d
Fri, Dec 18$18+23.9%124d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot13.591113151719$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 — 13.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot13.591415.518.51515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVTS open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 2.

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 2

spot13.591415.518.58787
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot91113151719121%79%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 92.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spotflip 13.591415.519+$255$255
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 2

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.0190.02540.01-0.01-0.07
0.65-0.0213.50.07440.02-0.02-0.35
0.61-0.02140.07740.02-0.02-0.39
0.53-0.02150.08040.02-0.02-0.47
0.50-0.0215.50.08070.02-0.02-0.51
0.33-0.02180.07250.02-0.02-0.68
0.30-0.0218.50.06970.02-0.02-0.70
0.28-0.02190.06670.02-0.02-0.73

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

spot181216202813K0
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

spot0.56.512.518.5294130K30K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 363K call contracts, 161K 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: NVTS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk