Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 11, 12:33 AM ET

TOYO max pain

Spot (delayed)$5.35
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$2.5-53.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.97±55.6% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 157 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
IV30117.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$367per 1% move

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$5-6.5%8d
Fri, Sep 18$7.5+40.2%36d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5+40.2%127d
Fri, Jan 15$5-6.5%155d
Fri, Mar 19$2.5-53.3%218d
Fri, Apr 16$2.5-53.3%246d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.53467910$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot2.52.5510142142
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TOYO open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot2.52.5510400400
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot2.5510+$348$348
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.002.50.02750.01-0.00-0.10
0.70-0.0050.08240.01-0.00-0.31
0.38-0.00100.08550.02-0.00-0.64

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5305K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5308K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 23K call contracts, 2K 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: TOYO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk