Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 12, 11:21 AM ET

SVM max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.85
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$7.5-41.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.02±62.5% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.111K puts / 13K calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3068.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$56Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $5

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$10-22.2%9d
Fri, Sep 18$12.5-2.7%37d
Fri, Oct 16$10-22.2%65d
Fri, Jan 15$7.5-41.6%156d
Fri, Jan 21$7.5-41.6%527d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.53712162125$17M$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.58K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SVM 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

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.53232
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot3712162125104%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 70.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 52.57.512.517.522.5+$32K$32K
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
0.982.50.00380.010.00-0.02
0.930.0050.01100.02-0.00-0.07
0.85-0.007.50.01940.03-0.00-0.14
0.77-0.00100.02640.04-0.00-0.23
0.69-0.0012.50.03090.05-0.00-0.31
0.62-0.00150.03340.06-0.00-0.39
0.55-0.0017.50.03440.06-0.00-0.46
0.50-0.00200.03440.06-0.00-0.53
0.45-0.0022.50.03390.06-0.00-0.58
0.41-0.00250.03300.06-0.00-0.63

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.513K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41K 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: SVM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk