Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 18, 3:32 PM ET

STEP max pain

Spot (delayed)$48.26
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$55+14.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.7±34.6% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.2343 puts / 35 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3055.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$853per 1% move · flip ≈ $55

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$45-6.8%3d
Fri, Sep 18$40-17.1%31d
Fri, Dec 18$45-6.8%122d
Fri, Mar 19$55+14.0%213d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55233140485765$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot5522.54050603131
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)STEP open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot5522.540506022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot35414753596559%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 5522.5405060+$1K$1K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0022.50.00380.03-0.01-0.05
0.82-0.01350.01140.09-0.01-0.18
0.75-0.01400.01490.12-0.02-0.26
0.66-0.02450.01780.13-0.02-0.35
0.56-0.02500.01960.14-0.02-0.45
0.47-0.02550.02010.14-0.02-0.54
0.38-0.02600.01960.14-0.01-0.63
0.30-0.01650.01820.13-0.01-0.71

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

spot22.5355065805K0
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

spot22.54060801005K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 3K 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: STEP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk