This page reflects KVUE 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 — KVUE
Data as of market close Aug 18, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-08-21 shows max pain at $19.00 (0.20 above spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$19.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$0.43
±2.3%
Days to Expiry
3
Calendar days
Total Call OI
8,934
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
5,637
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.63
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$18.80
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
$19.00
8/7/2026, 11:22:23 PM
2026-08-14
$19.00
8/14/2026, 11:16:01 PM
2026-08-21NextUpdated
$19.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2026-08-28
$19.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2026-09-04
$18.50
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2026-09-11
$19.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2026-09-18
$18.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2026-09-25
$19.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2026-11-20
$19.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2026-12-18
$17.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2027-01-15
$18.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2027-02-19
$19.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2027-03-19
$20.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
2027-06-17
$20.00
8/18/2026, 11:22:07 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-08-21 at max pain $19.00.
KVUE pain by strike for 2026-08-21 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
5
0
7271600
7271600
9
400
5016800
5017200
10
2500
4453100
4455600
11
5700
3889400
3895100
12
8900
3327300
3336200
13
13100
2765200
2778300
13.5
15450
2509250
2524700
14
17900
2253300
2271200
15
23200
1744800
1768000
16
31300
1241600
1272900
16.5
35450
998200
1033650
17
39600
761700
801300
17.5
43750
545750
589500
18
47900
333750
381650
18.5
52450
167000
219450
19
57000
33500
90500
19.5
361750
23800
385550
20
703500
15950
719450
20.5
1126750
8100
1134850
21
1551300
250
1551550
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.