Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 13, 10:03 AM ET

STNG max pain

Spot (delayed)$76.15
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$57.5-24.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.85±39.2% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.91488 puts / 538 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$57.5largest put OI
IV3036.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $40

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$77.5+1.8%8d
Fri, Sep 18$77.5+1.8%36d
Fri, Oct 16$75-1.5%64d
Fri, Jan 15$55-27.8%155d
Fri, Jan 21$57.5-24.5%526d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot57.528476786106125$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 — 57.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot57.527.542.557.57082.5100140140
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)STNG open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 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, Jan 21

spot57.527.542.557.57082.51002727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot2847678610612565%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 4027.542.557.57082.5100+$6K$6K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.79-0.0157.50.00700.25-0.01-0.21
0.77-0.01600.00740.26-0.01-0.23
0.75-0.0162.50.00790.28-0.01-0.25
0.72-0.01650.00830.29-0.01-0.28
0.70-0.0167.50.00870.30-0.01-0.30
0.68-0.01700.00910.31-0.01-0.32
0.65-0.0172.50.00940.32-0.01-0.35
0.63-0.01750.00970.33-0.01-0.37
0.60-0.0177.50.01000.34-0.01-0.40
0.58-0.01800.01020.34-0.01-0.42
0.56-0.0182.50.01030.35-0.01-0.45
0.53-0.01850.01050.35-0.01-0.48
0.51-0.0187.50.01060.35-0.01-0.50
0.49-0.01900.01060.35-0.01-0.53
0.44-0.01950.01060.35-0.01-0.57

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot45657585951153K0
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

spot17.53552.57087.51153K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K call contracts, 14K 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: STNG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk