This page reflects U 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 — U
Data as of market close Aug 18, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-08-21 shows max pain at $29.00 (17.74 below spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$29.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$2.01
±4.3%
Days to Expiry
3
Calendar days
Total Call OI
68,088
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
62,094
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.91
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$46.74
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
$33.00
8/7/2026, 11:36:58 PM
2026-08-14
$33.00
8/14/2026, 11:40:11 PM
2026-08-21NextUpdated
$29.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2026-08-28
$42.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2026-09-04
$40.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2026-09-11
$43.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2026-09-18
$40.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2026-09-25
$41.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2026-10-02
$45.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2026-11-20
$29.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2027-01-15
$25.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2027-02-19
$37.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
2027-05-21
$35.00
8/18/2026, 11:38:30 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-08-21 at max pain $29.00.
U pain by strike for 2026-08-21 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
5
0
127587900
127587900
6
8400
121378500
121386900
7
33200
115169100
115202300
8
78000
108959700
109037700
9
141100
102750600
102891700
10
212800
96541500
96754300
11
296700
90439700
90736400
12
389000
84339600
84728600
13
490500
78264700
78755200
14
606000
72245500
72851500
15
727700
66657600
67385300
16
856600
61153700
62010300
17
991400
55705800
56697200
18
1127900
50318000
51445900
19
1271100
45256900
46528000
20
1441300
40405300
41846600
21
1848000
36416100
38264100
22
2296500
32577800
34874300
23
2808900
28958200
31767100
23.5
3089750
27202000
30291750
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.