Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 12, 11:42 PM ET

ZSL max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.43
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$20-18.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.85±36.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.24296 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$42largest call OI
Put wall$11largest put OI
IV3089.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $19

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 14$26.5+8.5%1d
Fri, Aug 21$26+6.4%8d
Fri, Aug 28$27.5+12.6%15d
Fri, Sep 4$32+31.0%22d
Fri, Sep 11$32+31.0%29d
Fri, Sep 18$25+2.3%36d
Fri, Sep 25$22-9.9%43d
Fri, Nov 20$20-18.1%99d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2011121304050$2M$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, Nov 20

spot2011321283542344344
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZSL 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

spot201132128354255
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot21221314050354%86%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 89.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 1981521273339+$4K$4K
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
0.82-0.02170.02610.03-0.01-0.18
0.79-0.02180.02820.03-0.02-0.21
0.75-0.02190.03020.04-0.02-0.24
0.71-0.02200.03190.04-0.02-0.27
0.67-0.02210.03320.04-0.02-0.31
0.64-0.02220.03430.04-0.02-0.34
0.60-0.02230.03500.05-0.02-0.38
0.56-0.02240.03540.05-0.02-0.41
0.53-0.02250.03550.05-0.02-0.44
0.49-0.02260.03540.05-0.02-0.47
0.46-0.02270.03500.05-0.02-0.50
0.43-0.02280.03440.05-0.02-0.53
0.40-0.02290.03370.05-0.02-0.56
0.38-0.02300.03280.05-0.02-0.58
0.35-0.02310.03190.05-0.02-0.60

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot62227.531.535.5421K0
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

spot11222.52833.5414K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 11K 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: ZSL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk