Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 13, 12:03 AM ET

ZBIO max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.29
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$20-36.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.5±65.5% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI3.484K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3094.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$20Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$25-20.1%6d
Fri, Sep 18$25-20.1%34d
Fri, Nov 20$22.5-28.1%97d
Fri, Dec 18$25-20.1%125d
Fri, Jan 15$7.5-76.0%153d
Fri, Feb 19$30-4.1%188d
Fri, Mar 19$22.5-28.1%216d
Fri, Dec 17$20-36.1%489d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2031120283745$7M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot202.5101525354K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZBIO open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot202.51015253511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot31120283745143%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 76.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 202.510153045+$34K$34K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.982.50.00060.01-0.00-0.01
0.970.0050.00130.02-0.00-0.02
0.94-0.00100.00320.04-0.00-0.06
0.91-0.0012.50.00440.05-0.01-0.07
0.89-0.00150.00570.06-0.01-0.10
0.83-0.01200.00830.09-0.01-0.16
0.76-0.01250.01040.11-0.01-0.23
0.70-0.01300.01200.12-0.01-0.30
0.64-0.01350.01290.13-0.01-0.36
0.54-0.01450.01360.14-0.01-0.47

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

spot17.522.53040501K0
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

spot2.51017.52540554K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 5K 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: ZBIO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk