Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 19, 4:55 AM ET

TCX max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.23
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$12.5+22.2% vs spot
Put/Call OI1.8563 puts / 34 calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3095.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$625per 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$12.5+22.2%2d
Fri, Sep 18$12.5+22.2%30d
Fri, Nov 20$7.5-26.7%93d
Fri, Feb 19$10-2.2%184d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.55810131518$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot12.557.512.51517.55757
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TCX open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 18.

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, Sep 18

spot12.557.512.51517.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spotflip 12.557.512.51517.5+$654$654
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, Sep 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.0250.02090.01-0.02-0.09
0.83-0.027.50.05410.01-0.02-0.18
0.32-0.0212.50.11630.01-0.02-0.69
0.21-0.02150.07540.01-0.02-0.80
0.15-0.0217.50.05430.01-0.02-0.85

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

spot51015204610
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.530461461
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 795 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: TCX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk