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

WWW max pain

Spot (delayed)$19.79
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$7.5-62.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.9±55.1% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.013 puts / 276 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3047.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 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

spot7.531120283745$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot7.52.57.515202545159159
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WWW open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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, Jan 21

spot7.52.57.51520254511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot8152330384576%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 60.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot51017.522.535+$2K$2K
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, Jan 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.002.50.00060.000.00-0.01
0.9850.00320.01-0.00-0.03
0.950.007.50.00650.03-0.00-0.06
0.91-0.00100.01080.04-0.00-0.10
0.80-0.00150.02040.07-0.00-0.21
0.73-0.0017.50.02460.08-0.00-0.28
0.66-0.00200.02780.09-0.00-0.36
0.59-0.0022.50.03000.09-0.00-0.43
0.53-0.00250.03120.09-0.00-0.50
0.32-0.00350.02870.08-0.00-0.76
0.19-0.00450.02200.06-0.00-0.94

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