Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 15, 2:20 PM ET

O max pain

Spot (delayed)$58.94
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$65+10.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.88±10.0% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.714K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$42.5largest put OI
IV3015.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$58Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: 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$60+1.8%3d
Fri, Oct 16$62.5+6.0%31d
Fri, Dec 18$60+1.8%94d
Fri, Jan 15$60+1.8%122d
Fri, Mar 19$65+10.3%185d
Thu, Jun 17$62.5+6.0%275d
Fri, Sep 17$57.5-2.4%367d
Fri, Jan 21$62.5+6.0%493d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot65384961728495$7M$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot6537.547.557.567.5802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)O open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot6537.547.557.567.5801111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot38496172849540%12%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 17.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot37.547.557.567.580+$72K$72K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.9842.50.00770.02-0.00-0.05
0.95-0.00450.01180.04-0.00-0.07
0.92-0.0047.50.01690.06-0.00-0.10
0.88-0.00500.02410.08-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.0152.50.03340.11-0.01-0.20
0.73-0.01550.04450.14-0.01-0.29
0.61-0.0157.50.05460.16-0.01-0.41
0.47-0.01600.05880.16-0.01-0.55
0.33-0.0162.50.05410.15-0.01-0.69
0.22-0.01650.04370.12-0.00-0.79
0.15-0.0067.50.03290.10-0.00-0.86
0.10-0.00700.02410.08-0.00-0.91
0.07-0.0072.50.01770.060.00-0.95
0.05-0.00750.01310.05-0.97
0.03-0.00800.00750.03-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot455562.570809512K0
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

spot27.537.547.557.567.58017K17K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 76K call contracts, 61K 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: O workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk