This page reflects CL options positioning from the latest published market-close snapshot. Intraday price and contract changes are not displayed.
Published Snapshot
Aug 18, 2026 close
Max Pain — CL
Data as of market close Aug 18, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-08-21 shows max pain at $87.50 (3.96 below spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$87.50
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$1.75
±1.9%
Days to Expiry
3
Calendar days
Total Call OI
10,356
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
3,183
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.31
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$91.46
Published close
Consensus
-
Open report for full read
Max Pain by Expiration
Pain by Strike
Drill into expiration
Selected: 2026-08-21
Expiration
Max Pain Strike
Last Updated
2026-08-07
$90.00
8/7/2026, 11:08:46 PM
2026-08-14
$92.00
8/14/2026, 11:07:58 PM
2026-08-21NextUpdated
$87.50
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-08-28
$91.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-09-04
$94.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-09-11
$92.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-09-18
$92.50
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-09-25
$92.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-10-02
$91.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-11-20
$90.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2026-12-18
$87.50
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2027-01-15
$85.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2027-02-19
$92.50
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2027-03-19
$90.00
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
2027-06-17
$92.50
8/18/2026, 11:09:42 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-08-21 at max pain $87.50.
CL pain by strike for 2026-08-21 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
40
0
14145100
14145100
45
500
12554600
12555100
50
4000
10964100
10968100
55
10000
9375100
9385100
60
16500
7788100
7804600
65
25000
6204600
6229600
70
35000
4655600
4690600
75
45500
3175600
3221100
80
56000
1770600
1826600
81
60400
1550800
1611200
82
64800
1331500
1396300
83
69200
1114900
1184100
84
73600
900300
973900
85
78700
686700
765400
86
99800
552700
652500
87
120900
422800
543700
87.5
131450
359400
490850
88
175700
315600
491300
89
264500
234800
499300
90
355200
160000
515200
How to Read Max Pain
Compare pin-risk and strike-pressure across expirations from the latest published close.
What max pain measures
Max pain is the strike where option holders would collectively lose the most at expiration, based on open interest across the listed chain.
How traders use it
It is most useful as a possible pinning zone, especially when spot is already trading near a crowded strike into expiration.
What can break it
Strong directional flows, news, or fast spot moves can overwhelm any pinning tendency, so max pain should support a thesis rather than drive it alone.
The closer you are to expiration, the more useful this becomes as context and the less useful it is as a standalone prediction.