Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 5:21 PM ET

WOLF max pain

Spot (delayed)$30.75
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$32.5+5.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.85±48.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.5581 puts / 146 calls
Call wall$32.5largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV30110.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $32.5

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$27.5-10.6%5d
Fri, Aug 28$30-2.4%12d
Fri, Sep 4$27-12.2%19d
Fri, Sep 11$29-5.7%26d
Fri, Sep 18$35+13.8%33d
Fri, Sep 25$31+0.8%40d
Fri, Oct 2$23-25.2%47d
Fri, Nov 20$32.5+5.7%96d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32.5202530354045$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 — 32.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot32.520253035403737
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WOLF open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot32.5202530354044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot202530354045124%118%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 121.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 32.52025303540+$700$700
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.02200.01260.04-0.02-0.16
0.79-0.0322.50.01500.04-0.03-0.20
0.74-0.03250.01690.05-0.03-0.26
0.69-0.0327.50.01840.06-0.03-0.31
0.64-0.04300.01940.06-0.04-0.36
0.59-0.0432.50.02000.06-0.04-0.41
0.54-0.04350.02030.06-0.04-0.45
0.50-0.0437.50.02030.06-0.04-0.49
0.46-0.04400.02010.06-0.04-0.53
0.40-0.04450.01930.06-0.04-0.60

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

spot1625.530.535.543602K0
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

spot2.5192835468066K66K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 228K call contracts, 218K 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: WOLF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk