Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:11 AM ET

MBUU max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.03
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$27.5+24.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.4±24.5% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI24.602K puts / 68 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3063.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$32Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$27.5+24.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$25+13.5%53d
Fri, Feb 19$27.5+24.8%116d
Fri, May 21$22.5+2.1%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot27.5152025303540$1M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 27.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot27.51520253037.51K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MBUU open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot27.51520253037.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15202530354082%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 53.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot1520253037.5+$24K−$24K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.01150.02190.02-0.01-0.10
0.82-0.0117.50.03610.03-0.01-0.18
0.70-0.01200.05160.04-0.01-0.30
0.56-0.0122.50.06160.05-0.01-0.46
0.41-0.01250.06180.05-0.01-0.61
0.28-0.0127.50.05400.04-0.01-0.74
0.20-0.01300.04330.04-0.01-0.84
0.09-0.01350.02510.02-0.01-0.96
0.07-0.0037.50.01890.02-0.00-0.99
0.05-0.00400.01430.01—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.522.527.532.537.5453450
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot12.52027.53542.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 739 call contracts, 4K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: MBUU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk