Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 3:20 AM ET

PUMP max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.54
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$12.5+8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4±34.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.18944 puts / 5K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3060.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$23Kper 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$12.5+8.3%4d
Fri, Sep 18$12.5+8.3%32d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5+8.3%123d
Fri, Mar 19$10-13.3%214d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.53814192530$3M$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 18

spot12.52.57.512.517.522.5303K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PUMP 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

spot12.52.57.512.517.522.5301313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3814192530182%65%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 70.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 12.52.57.512.517.522.530+$7K$7K
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
0.98-0.002.50.00430.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.0050.01420.01-0.00-0.05
0.87-0.007.50.03600.01-0.01-0.13
0.72-0.01100.06760.02-0.01-0.28
0.52-0.0112.50.08240.03-0.01-0.48
0.36-0.01150.07520.03-0.01-0.65
0.25-0.0117.50.06150.02-0.01-0.77
0.18-0.01200.04870.02-0.00-0.84
0.13-0.0022.50.03840.01-0.00-0.90
0.10-0.00250.03040.01-0.00-0.94
0.06-0.00300.01950.010.00-0.99

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53016K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53016K16K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 25K call contracts, 10K 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: PUMP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk