This page reflects EE options positioning from the latest published market-close snapshot. Intraday price and contract changes are not displayed.
Published Snapshot
Aug 19, 2026 close
Max Pain — EE
Data as of market close Aug 19, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-08-21 shows max pain at $34.00 (4.14 below spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$34.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$0.43
±1.1%
Days to Expiry
2
Calendar days
Total Call OI
365
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
115
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.32
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$38.14
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
2026-06-18
$32.00
6/18/2026, 11:14:51 PM
2026-07-17
$34.00
7/17/2026, 11:13:19 PM
2026-08-21NextUpdated
$34.00
8/19/2026, 11:13:18 PM
2026-09-18
$40.00
8/19/2026, 11:13:18 PM
2026-11-20
$34.00
8/19/2026, 11:13:18 PM
2027-02-19
$35.00
8/19/2026, 11:13:18 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-08-21 at max pain $34.00.
EE pain by strike for 2026-08-21 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
15
0
164700
164700
18
600
130500
131100
19
800
119300
120100
20
1000
108200
109200
21
1600
97200
98800
22
2200
86300
88500
23
2800
75500
78300
25
4000
54300
58300
26
4600
45300
49900
28
5800
27700
33500
29
6400
19900
26300
30
7100
12600
19700
31
7800
8800
16600
32
8500
6400
14900
33
9200
4900
14100
34
9900
3500
13400
35
10600
2800
13400
36
16400
2400
18800
37
22500
2000
24500
38
30200
1600
31800
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.