Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 1, 11:41 PM ET

QMCO max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.93
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$10-8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.73±43.2% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI0.53331 puts / 627 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV30141.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$721per 1% move · flip ≈ $30

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$10-8.5%19d
Fri, Sep 18$10-8.5%47d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5-31.4%138d
Fri, Mar 19$7.5-31.4%229d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1081217212630$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot107.512.517.522.530322322
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QMCO open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 18

spot107.512.517.522.53044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot81217212630227%132%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 156.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spotflip 307.512.517.522.530+$2K$2K
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, Sep 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.027.50.04260.01-0.02-0.18
0.67-0.02100.06530.01-0.02-0.34
0.50-0.0212.50.07070.02-0.02-0.51
0.38-0.02150.06460.01-0.02-0.63
0.30-0.0217.50.05600.01-0.02-0.71
0.24-0.02200.04820.01-0.02-0.77
0.20-0.0222.50.04180.01-0.02-0.81
0.17-0.02250.03650.01-0.02-0.84
0.13-0.02300.02880.01-0.02-0.89

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

spot5101520252K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 1K 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: QMCO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk