Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 18, 11:13 AM ET

WWW max pain

Spot (delayed)$19.79
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$17.5-11.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.2±36.4% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 41 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
IV3047.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$622per 1% move

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$17.5-11.6%3d
Fri, Sep 18$17.5-11.6%31d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-11.6%122d
Fri, Jan 15$20+1.0%150d
Fri, Mar 19$17.5-11.6%213d
Fri, Jan 21$7.5-62.1%521d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5182125283235$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot17.517.5202530352525
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WWW open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot17.517.52025303511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot18212528323569%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 58.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot17.520253035+$387$387
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.75-0.0117.50.03790.05-0.01-0.29
0.64-0.01200.04550.06-0.01-0.41
0.43-0.01250.04780.06-0.01-0.64
0.28-0.01300.03950.05-0.01-0.81
0.19-0.01350.03040.04-0.00-0.92

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

spot2.51017.525404440
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

spot2.51017.525401K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 2K 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: WWW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk