Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 6, 12:15 AM ET

VZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$46.38
Max pain · Fri, Sep 11$47+1.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.19±6.9% by Fri, Sep 11
Put/Call OI0.65174 puts / 268 calls
Call wall$51largest call OI
Put wall$47largest put OI
IV3025.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $51

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 7$46-0.8%2d
Fri, Aug 14$46-0.8%9d
Fri, Aug 21$45-3.0%16d
Fri, Aug 28$45-3.0%23d
Fri, Sep 4$45-3.0%30d
Fri, Sep 11$47+1.3%37d
Fri, Sep 18$45-3.0%44d
Fri, Oct 16$46-0.8%72d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot47384144475053$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 — 47 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 11

spot4738424548515353
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VZ open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 11.

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 11

spot4738424548516262
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 11

spot38414447505364%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 11

spotflip 513842454851+$10K$10K
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 11

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.00380.01410.01-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01400.02490.02-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.01410.03390.02-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01420.04600.03-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01430.06110.04-0.01-0.17
0.77-0.02440.07780.04-0.02-0.23
0.68-0.02450.09330.05-0.02-0.32
0.58-0.02460.10430.06-0.02-0.42
0.48-0.02470.10790.06-0.02-0.53
0.38-0.02480.10330.06-0.02-0.64
0.28-0.02490.09190.05-0.02-0.74
0.20-0.01500.07660.04-0.01-0.82
0.14-0.01510.06030.03-0.01-0.89
0.10-0.01520.04540.03-0.01-0.94
0.07-0.01530.03340.02-0.01-0.97

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

spot303841.54548.55323K0
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

spot20354145.55057.5102K102K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 647K call contracts, 509K 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: VZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk