Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 7, 12:26 AM ET

V max pain

Spot (delayed)$368.25
Max pain · Fri, Sep 4$365-0.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.28±4.7% by Fri, Sep 4
Put/Call OI2.182K puts / 854 calls
Call wall$405largest call OI
Put wall$265largest put OI
IV3020.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$476Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $390

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 7$360-2.2%1d
Fri, Aug 14$357.5-2.9%8d
Fri, Aug 21$345-6.3%15d
Fri, Aug 28$360-2.2%22d
Fri, Sep 4$365-0.9%29d
Fri, Sep 11$360-2.2%36d
Fri, Sep 18$340-7.7%43d
Fri, Oct 16$370+0.5%71d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot365225269313357401445$11M$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 — 365 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot365225265310350390435566566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)V open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 4.

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 4

spot365225265310350390435255255
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot22526931335740144574%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 20.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spotflip 390225265310350390435+$164K$164K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.043350.00490.13-0.05-0.06
0.91-0.053400.00650.17-0.07-0.09
0.88-0.073450.00850.21-0.08-0.12
0.83-0.093500.01090.26-0.10-0.17
0.78-0.113550.01340.32-0.12-0.23
0.70-0.133600.01570.36-0.13-0.30
0.62-0.143650.01760.40-0.14-0.39
0.53-0.143700.01860.41-0.15-0.48
0.44-0.143750.01860.41-0.14-0.57
0.35-0.133800.01760.39-0.13-0.67
0.27-0.123850.01560.35-0.12-0.75
0.20-0.103900.01320.30-0.10-0.82
0.15-0.083950.01070.24-0.08-0.88
0.10-0.074000.00840.19-0.06-0.92
0.07-0.054050.00640.15-0.04-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 43 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot190245300342.53704005K0
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

spot140245300352.5382.543524K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 236K call contracts, 237K 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: V workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk