Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 25, 11:06 PM ET

OZK max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.2
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$47.5-3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.78±13.8% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.4734 puts / 73 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3021.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $52.5

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, Sep 18$50+1.6%22d
Fri, Oct 16$50+1.6%50d
Fri, Nov 20$50+1.6%85d
Fri, Jan 15$45-8.5%141d
Fri, Feb 19$47.5-3.5%176d
Fri, Jan 21$47.5-3.5%512d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot47.5283441475460$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 — 47.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot47.527.537.542.547.552.557.52525
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OZK open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot47.527.537.542.547.552.557.5208208
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot28344147546049%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 52.527.537.542.547.552.557.5+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.9827.50.00400.02-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.00350.01060.04-0.01-0.08
0.91-0.0037.50.01490.06-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.00400.02090.07-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.0142.50.02820.09-0.01-0.21
0.73-0.01450.03600.11-0.01-0.29
0.63-0.0147.50.04350.13-0.01-0.39
0.52-0.01500.04820.13-0.01-0.51
0.40-0.0152.50.04800.13-0.01-0.63
0.29-0.01550.04320.12-0.01-0.73
0.21-0.0157.50.03570.10-0.01-0.82
0.15-0.01600.02810.08-0.00-0.89

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

spot3040455055601K0
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

spot2030405060751K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K 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: OZK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk