Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 18, 4:50 AM ET

OXSQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.43
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$2.5+74.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.23±16.1% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI2.242K puts / 690 calls
Call wall$1.5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3040.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$573per 1% move · flip ≈ $1

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$2.5+74.9%3d
Fri, Sep 18$1-30.0%31d
Fri, Nov 20$2+39.9%94d
Fri, Feb 19$1-30.0%185d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.5123568$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot2.50.51.52.57.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OXSQ 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

spot2.50.51.52.57.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot112223382%100%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 99.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spotflip 111.522.557.5+$1K$1K
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
0.98-0.000.50.06460.00-0.00-0.02
0.92-0.0110.41690.00-0.01-0.09
0.36-0.011.51.78980.00-0.01-0.64
0.14-0.0120.54080.00-0.01-0.86
0.09-0.012.50.30520.00-0.01-0.90
0.05-0.0150.10790.00-0.01-0.94
0.04-0.017.50.07350.00-0.01-0.95

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

spot0.511.522.551K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: OXSQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk