Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 6, 11:48 PM ET

SFL max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.07
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$12.5+3.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.18±18.0% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.4251 puts / 120 calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3032.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · 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$10-17.1%14d
Fri, Sep 18$12.5+3.6%42d
Fri, Nov 20$10-17.1%105d
Fri, Feb 19$12.5+3.6%196d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.53610131720$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot12.52.51015209191
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SFL open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot12.52.510152011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot8101214161848%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 7.57.51012.51517.520+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.002.50.00100.00-0.00-0.02
0.94-0.007.50.03570.01-0.00-0.10
0.81-0.00100.10760.02-0.00-0.23
0.45-0.0012.50.16080.03-0.00-0.56
0.23-0.00150.09640.03-0.00-0.77
0.15-0.0017.50.06160.02-0.00-0.85
0.12-0.00200.04420.02-0.00-0.89

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

spot2.51015205K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.55K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K 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: SFL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk