Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 1:30 PM ET

USAC max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.06
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$25-4.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.89±7.3% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI0.50256 puts / 510 calls
Call wall$27.5largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3026.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$20Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $27.5

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$25-4.1%7d
Fri, Sep 18$25-4.1%35d
Fri, Dec 18$25-4.1%126d
Fri, Mar 19$25-4.1%217d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25232426272930$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot2522.52527.530268268
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)USAC open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 21.

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 21

spot2522.52527.5301111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot23242627293083%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spotflip 27.522.52527.530+$31K$31K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.0022.50.01940.00-0.00-0.01
0.83-0.02250.20920.01-0.02-0.17
0.13-0.0127.50.18030.01-0.01-0.88
0.01-0.00300.02040.00-0.02-1.00

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

spot20253035405K0
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

spot1520253035405K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 3K 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: USAC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk