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Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Jul 31, 1:57 AM ET

SECZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$7.07
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$7.5+6.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.28±46.3% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI0.09156 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV30135.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $5

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+41.4%20d
Fri, Sep 18$7.5+6.1%48d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5+6.1%139d
Fri, Mar 19$5-29.3%230d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.53712162125$2M$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.5865865
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SECZ 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

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.588
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot3712162125314%101%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 114.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spotflip 52.57.512.517.522.5+$4K$4K
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
0.96-0.012.50.02170.00-0.01-0.04
0.81-0.0150.08590.01-0.01-0.18
0.52-0.017.50.11640.01-0.01-0.46
0.36-0.01100.08790.01-0.01-0.61
0.30-0.0212.50.06970.01-0.01-0.67
0.26-0.02150.05870.01-0.01-0.71
0.23-0.0217.50.05140.01-0.01-0.74
0.21-0.02200.04620.01-0.01-0.76
0.20-0.0222.50.04230.01-0.01-0.77
0.19-0.02250.03920.01-0.01-0.78

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.52K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K 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: SECZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk