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

ZWS max pain

Spot (delayed)$50.97
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$45-11.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.1±19.8% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.2416 puts / 67 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3029.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 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 · 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$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

spot45253341495765$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot45253042.547.555602323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZWS open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot45253042.547.5556044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot25334149576582%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 45253042.547.55560+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.00250.00410.02-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.0027.50.00480.03-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01300.00610.04-0.01-0.06
0.83-0.01400.01660.09-0.01-0.16
0.78-0.0142.50.02050.10-0.01-0.21
0.72-0.01450.02460.12-0.01-0.27
0.66-0.0147.50.02840.13-0.01-0.34
0.58-0.01500.03150.14-0.01-0.41
0.42-0.01550.03310.14-0.01-0.58
0.34-0.0157.50.03150.13-0.01-0.66
0.28-0.01600.02880.12-0.01-0.72
0.18-0.01650.02210.10-0.01-0.83

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