Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 19, 12:23 AM ET

SXI max pain

Spot (delayed)$320.89
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$270-15.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$49.7±15.5% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.51275 puts / 539 calls
Call wall$420largest call OI
Put wall$270largest put OI
IV3034.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$78Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $165

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$270-15.9%3d
Fri, Sep 18$330+2.8%31d
Fri, Nov 20$270-15.9%94d
Fri, Feb 19$330+2.8%185d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot270125206287368449530$10M$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 — 270 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot270125175240300360460250250
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SXI open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 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, Nov 20

spot27012517524030036046011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot125206287368449530107%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 165125180250310370470+$77K$77K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.062500.00250.30-0.07-0.11
0.86-0.072600.00310.35-0.08-0.14
0.83-0.082700.00370.41-0.09-0.17
0.79-0.092800.00430.47-0.10-0.21
0.74-0.102900.00500.53-0.11-0.26
0.69-0.113000.00550.58-0.12-0.32
0.63-0.123100.00600.62-0.13-0.38
0.56-0.133200.00630.64-0.13-0.44
0.50-0.133300.00640.65-0.13-0.51
0.44-0.133400.00640.64-0.13-0.57
0.38-0.123500.00620.62-0.12-0.63
0.33-0.123600.00580.59-0.12-0.69
0.28-0.113700.00540.55-0.11-0.74
0.23-0.103800.00490.50-0.10-0.78
0.17-0.084000.00390.41-0.08-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1251802503103704402500
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

spot125170230320410500250250
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 690 call contracts, 445 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: SXI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk