Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:02 PM ET

MBX max pain

Spot (delayed)$48.5
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$60+23.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$24.85±51.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.099 puts / 100 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV30111.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

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$40-17.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$60+23.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$25-48.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$60+23.7%172d
Fri, Jan 21$25-48.5%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60404754616875$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot60405060759090
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MBX open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot604050607522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot40475461687594%88%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 93.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 6540506075+$3K−$3K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.74-0.03400.01020.11-0.03-0.26
0.68-0.03450.01130.12-0.03-0.32
0.62-0.03500.01210.13-0.03-0.38
0.56-0.03550.01260.13-0.04-0.44
0.51-0.04600.01280.13-0.04-0.50
0.46-0.04650.01270.13-0.04-0.55
0.37-0.03750.01210.13-0.03-0.64

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

spot517.53560852680
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

spot2.515305580105303303
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 718 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: MBX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk