Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 4:44 AM ET

SDGR max pain

Spot (delayed)$19.02
Max pain · Fri, May 21$20+5.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8±42.1% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.2912 puts / 42 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3055.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$323per 1% move · flip ≈ $25

Event risk before this expiration: 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$12.5-34.3%5d
Fri, Oct 16$20+5.2%33d
Fri, Nov 20$15-21.1%68d
Fri, Dec 18$15-21.1%96d
Fri, Mar 19$15-21.1%187d
Fri, May 21$20+5.2%250d
Fri, Aug 20$10-47.4%341d
Fri, Nov 19$17.5-8.0%432d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20131722263135$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot2012.522.530352323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SDGR open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot2012.522.5303511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot13172226313576%63%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 2512.522.53035+$235$235
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.0012.50.02060.04-0.01-0.14
0.59-0.01200.03920.06-0.01-0.42
0.50-0.0122.50.03950.06-0.01-0.51
0.43-0.01250.03810.06-0.01-0.59
0.32-0.01300.03330.06-0.01-0.71
0.28-0.0132.50.03070.05-0.01-0.76
0.24-0.01350.02820.05-0.01-0.80

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

spot2.51017.52532.5402K0
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

spot2.51017.52532.5404K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K call contracts, 6K 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: SDGR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk