Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 18, 4:15 AM ET

SMP max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.76
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$35-9.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.7±12.1% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI0.205 puts / 25 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3032.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$35-9.7%3d
Fri, Sep 18$45+16.1%31d
Fri, Nov 20$30-22.6%94d
Fri, Feb 19$30-22.6%185d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35303540455055$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot3530354045505588
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SMP open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 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, Aug 21

spot3530354045505511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot303540455055417%72%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 144.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spotflip 35303540455055+$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, Aug 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.15300.02080.01-0.15-0.09
0.80-0.18350.05780.01-0.18-0.20
0.29-0.11400.14590.01-0.10-0.71
0.03-0.02450.02320.00-0.02-0.96
0.01-0.01500.00670.00-0.01-0.99
0.01-0.01550.00280.00-0.00-0.99

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

spot303540455055300
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

spot17.522.53040503333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 58 call contracts, 7 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: SMP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk