Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 2:24 PM ET

SKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$33.79
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$27.5-18.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.2±30.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.62939 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$27.5largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3059.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$21Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

Event risk before this expiration: 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$30-11.2%5d
Fri, Sep 18$27.5-18.6%33d
Fri, Oct 16$30-11.2%61d
Fri, Jan 15$27.5-18.6%152d
Fri, Dec 17$35+3.6%488d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot27.5132028354350$3M$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 — 27.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot27.512.52027.53542.550386386
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SKE open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot27.512.52027.53542.55011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot132028354350102%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 1512.52027.53542.550+$10K$10K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0117.50.00630.02-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.01200.00950.03-0.01-0.07
0.88-0.0122.50.01350.04-0.01-0.11
0.83-0.01250.01790.05-0.01-0.17
0.77-0.0127.50.02220.07-0.01-0.23
0.70-0.01300.02580.08-0.01-0.30
0.63-0.0232.50.02830.08-0.02-0.37
0.55-0.02350.02970.09-0.02-0.45
0.48-0.0237.50.02990.09-0.02-0.52
0.42-0.02400.02930.09-0.02-0.59
0.36-0.0242.50.02800.08-0.02-0.65
0.31-0.01450.02630.08-0.02-0.70
0.27-0.0147.50.02430.07-0.01-0.75
0.23-0.01500.02220.07-0.01-0.79

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.52532.540502K0
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

spot12.52027.53542.5502K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 4K 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: SKE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk