Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 20, 3:02 AM ET

PPIH max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$25-5.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.85±29.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.1265 puts / 533 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3073.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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$25-5.7%1d
Fri, Sep 18$22.5-15.1%29d
Fri, Dec 18$25-5.7%120d
Fri, Mar 19$22.5-15.1%211d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152229364350$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot251520253545163163
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PPIH open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot25152025354511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot152229364350107%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 65.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 17.51520253545+$5K$5K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.00150.00970.02-0.01-0.05
0.91-0.0117.50.01640.03-0.01-0.10
0.84-0.01200.02430.04-0.01-0.17
0.75-0.0122.50.03160.05-0.01-0.25
0.66-0.01250.03690.06-0.01-0.35
0.47-0.02300.04000.06-0.02-0.55
0.31-0.01350.03540.05-0.01-0.71
0.20-0.01400.02790.04-0.01-0.83
0.13-0.01450.02050.03-0.01-0.92
0.08-0.01500.01440.02-0.00-0.97

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

spot17.522.53040504170
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

spot12.517.522.5304050417417
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 319 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: PPIH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk