Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 15, 11:49 PM ET

ZWS max pain

Spot (delayed)$50.97
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$42.5-16.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.5±14.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0510 puts / 187 calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$42.5largest put OI
IV3029.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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 21$52.5+3.0%5d
Fri, Sep 18$47.5-6.8%33d
Fri, Nov 20$42.5-16.6%96d
Fri, Feb 19$45-11.7%187d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5384349546065$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot42.537.542.547.552.557.5656969
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZWS 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

spot42.537.542.547.552.557.56511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot38434954606561%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 4537.542.547.552.557.565+$5K$5K
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
0.91-0.0137.50.01240.04-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.01400.01670.05-0.01-0.13
0.83-0.0142.50.02230.07-0.01-0.17
0.77-0.02450.02920.08-0.02-0.23
0.69-0.0247.50.03700.09-0.02-0.31
0.59-0.02500.04380.10-0.02-0.41
0.48-0.0252.50.04700.10-0.02-0.53
0.37-0.02550.04500.10-0.02-0.65
0.28-0.0157.50.03940.09-0.01-0.74
0.21-0.01600.03260.07-0.01-0.82
0.12-0.01650.02110.05-0.01-0.92

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

spot27.545505560651020
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

spot22.532.542.552.562.5187187
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 476 call contracts, 356 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: ZWS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk