Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 5:32 AM ET

WFG max pain

Spot (delayed)$69.55
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$60-13.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.1±14.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.236 puts / 26 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3034.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60

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$70+0.6%7d
Fri, Sep 18$65-6.5%35d
Fri, Nov 20$50-28.1%98d
Fri, Dec 18$60-13.7%126d
Fri, Jan 15$70+0.6%154d
Fri, Feb 19$60-13.7%189d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60455565758595$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6045607080951111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WFG open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 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, Dec 18

spot60456070809511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot45556575859561%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 604560708095+$766$766
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01450.00570.06-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.01500.00840.07-0.01-0.10
0.79-0.02600.01770.12-0.02-0.22
0.69-0.02650.02470.14-0.02-0.32
0.56-0.02700.03100.16-0.02-0.46
0.40-0.02750.03150.16-0.02-0.63
0.28-0.02800.02640.14-0.02-0.76
0.15-0.01900.01590.10-0.01-0.89
0.12-0.01950.01250.08-0.01-0.92

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

spot50607080670
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

spot30456075901057171
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 159 call contracts, 92 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: WFG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk