Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 3, 3:09 PM ET

XNDU max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.3
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$12.5+10.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.15±45.6% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI0.9079 puts / 88 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV30124.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$152per 1% move · flip ≈ $15

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 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 7$11-2.7%4d
Fri, Aug 14$12+6.2%11d
Fri, Aug 21$12.5+10.6%18d
Fri, Aug 28$12+6.2%25d
Fri, Sep 4$11-2.7%32d
Fri, Sep 18$12.5+10.6%46d
Fri, Oct 16$15+32.7%74d
Fri, Jan 15$15+32.7%165d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.5101214161820$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot12.51012.51517.5204545
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XNDU open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 18

spot12.51012.51517.52033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot101214161820176%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 152.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spotflip 151012.51517.520+$396$396
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.68-0.02100.07570.01-0.02-0.31
0.47-0.0212.50.08410.02-0.02-0.51
0.33-0.02150.07200.01-0.02-0.66
0.23-0.0217.50.05760.01-0.02-0.75
0.17-0.01200.04590.01-0.01-0.81

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

spot1101214172K0
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

spot1711.51620.5405K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K call contracts, 9K 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: XNDU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk