Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 4:43 AM ET

SD max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.63
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$15+2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.63±4.3% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI2.73619 puts / 227 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3034.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Sep 18$15+2.5%5d
Fri, Oct 16$14.8+1.2%33d
Fri, Jan 15$14.8+1.2%124d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5-14.6%215d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15131416171920$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot1512.51517.520600600
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SD 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

spot1512.51517.5201010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spotflip 1512.51517.520+$18K$18K
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
0.94-0.0112.50.07300.00-0.01-0.06
0.34-0.02150.50380.01-0.02-0.67
0.04-0.0117.50.06370.00-0.01-0.96
0.02-0.01200.01920.00-0.01-0.99

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

spot4.812.517.32029.82K0
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

spot2.37.312.317.322.329.82K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 2K 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: SD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk