Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 15, 4:56 AM ET

OPRA max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.23
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$12.5-38.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.75±48.2% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.1057 puts / 598 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3047.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

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 · 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, Aug 21$19-6.1%5d
Fri, Sep 18$20-1.1%33d
Fri, Oct 16$17-16.0%61d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-38.2%152d
Thu, Jun 17$15-25.9%305d
Fri, Dec 17$12.5-38.2%488d
Fri, Jan 21$15-25.9%523d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.5101520253035$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot12.51015202532221221
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OPRA 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

spot12.5101520253211
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot10152025303582%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 12.51015202532+$3K$3K
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
0.91-0.00100.01170.03-0.00-0.10
0.85-0.0012.50.01720.05-0.00-0.15
0.78-0.00150.02260.06-0.00-0.21
0.71-0.0017.50.02730.08-0.00-0.29
0.63-0.00200.03100.08-0.00-0.37
0.55-0.0022.50.03340.09-0.00-0.45
0.47-0.00250.03440.09-0.00-0.53
0.34-0.00300.03280.08-0.00-0.67
0.30-0.00320.03130.08-0.00-0.72
0.24-0.00350.02850.07-0.00-0.78

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

spot915182124273K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5283K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K call contracts, 8K 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: OPRA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk