Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 15, 3:40 AM ET

TCBX max pain

Spot (delayed)$46.13
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$35-24.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.6±14.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.044 puts / 101 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3025.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$8Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $32.5

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

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$37.5-18.7%6d
Fri, Sep 18$42.5-7.9%34d
Fri, Nov 20$35-24.1%97d
Fri, Feb 19$32.5-29.5%188d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35303438424650$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot35303542.547.55050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TCBX 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

spot35303542.547.51010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot30343842465063%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 32.5303542.547.5+$4K$4K
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
0.94-0.01300.00790.03-0.01-0.06
0.93-0.0132.50.01100.03-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.01350.01530.04-0.01-0.10
0.81-0.01400.03020.06-0.01-0.19
0.74-0.0142.50.04200.08-0.01-0.27
0.62-0.01450.05480.09-0.01-0.39
0.48-0.0147.50.06120.10-0.01-0.54
0.34-0.01500.05550.09-0.01-0.69

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

spot32.5404550790
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

spot2027.53542.5507979
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 228 call contracts, 24 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: TCBX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk