Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 1:03 AM ET

SWK max pain

Spot (delayed)$90.71
Max pain · Fri, Aug 20$87.5-3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23.15±25.5% by Fri, Aug 20
Put/Call OI1.11141 puts / 127 calls
Call wall$115largest call OI
Put wall$65largest put OI
IV3040.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $115

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Oct 16$87.5-3.5%2d
Fri, Nov 20$90-0.8%37d
Fri, Jan 15$82.5-9.1%93d
Fri, Feb 19$95+4.7%128d
Fri, Apr 16$92.5+2.0%184d
Fri, May 21$87.5-3.5%219d
Fri, Aug 20$87.5-3.5%310d
Fri, Jan 21$85-6.3%464d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot87.5506988107126145$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 — 87.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 20

spot87.550708592.51051209393
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SWK open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 20.

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 20

spot87.550708592.510512022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Aug 20

spot50698810712614543%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 20

spotflip 11550708592.5105120+$5K−$5K
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 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.01600.00550.13-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.01650.00690.17-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.01700.00840.21-0.01-0.18
0.77-0.01750.00990.24-0.01-0.23
0.71-0.01800.01130.28-0.02-0.29
0.65-0.02850.01240.30-0.02-0.36
0.61-0.0287.50.01280.31-0.02-0.39
0.58-0.02900.01310.32-0.02-0.42
0.55-0.0292.50.01340.32-0.02-0.46
0.48-0.0297.50.01350.32-0.02-0.52
0.45-0.021000.01340.32-0.02-0.55
0.40-0.021050.01310.31-0.02-0.61
0.34-0.021100.01250.30-0.01-0.67
0.30-0.021150.01170.28-0.01-0.72
0.26-0.011200.01080.26-0.01-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot32.55572.59011515024K0
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

spot3047.56582.510013524K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 69K call contracts, 15K 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: SWK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk