This page reflects QS 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 — QS
Data as of market close Aug 18, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-08-21 shows max pain at $6.00 (0.24 above spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$6.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$0.42
±7.4%
Days to Expiry
3
Calendar days
Total Call OI
130,131
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
37,246
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.29
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$5.76
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
$5.50
8/7/2026, 11:29:49 PM
2026-08-14
$5.50
8/14/2026, 11:29:22 PM
2026-08-21NextUpdated
$6.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2026-08-28
$6.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2026-09-04
$6.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2026-09-11
$5.50
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2026-09-18
$6.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2026-09-25
$5.50
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2026-10-02
$6.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2026-11-20
$4.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2027-01-15
$7.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
2027-02-19
$5.00
8/18/2026, 11:35:41 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-08-21 at max pain $6.00.
QS pain by strike for 2026-08-21 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
1
0
19413350
19413350
2
80700
15689250
15769950
2.5
124500
13827800
13952300
3
169050
11966350
12135400
3.5
217850
10119400
10337250
4
266650
8273500
8540150
4.5
316550
6476250
6792800
5
372050
4720200
5092250
5.5
605050
3276850
3881900
6
969250
1907000
2876250
6.5
1618300
1354050
2972350
7
2504650
827050
3331700
7.5
4062650
616550
4679200
8
5710150
407250
6117400
8.5
8122050
325800
8447850
9
10540150
247300
10787450
9.5
13710950
187950
13898900
10
16882100
130900
17013000
10.5
21614850
113200
21728050
11
26347600
96150
26443750
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.