Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:28 PM ET

MCHP max pain

Spot (delayed)$75.9
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$65-14.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.7±16.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.1119K puts / 167K calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$82.5largest put OI
IV3059.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17.5Mper 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, Oct 30$76+0.1%4d
Fri, Nov 6$76+0.1%11d
Fri, Nov 13$75-1.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$77.5+2.1%25d
Fri, Nov 27$72-5.1%32d
Fri, Dec 4$75-1.2%39d
Fri, Dec 18$65-14.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$72.5-4.5%81d
Fri, Mar 19$77.5+2.1%144d
Fri, Apr 16$77.5+2.1%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot65255075100125150$1.3B$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot652542.56077.59512596K96K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MCHP open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot652542.56077.595125845845
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot255075100125150156%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 652542.56077.595125+$11.8M−$11.8M
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.0357.50.00970.05-0.03-0.10
0.88-0.03600.01220.06-0.04-0.13
0.84-0.0462.50.01480.07-0.04-0.17
0.79-0.04650.01720.08-0.05-0.21
0.74-0.0567.50.01960.09-0.05-0.26
0.69-0.06700.02160.10-0.06-0.32
0.63-0.0672.50.02320.11-0.06-0.38
0.57-0.06750.02440.11-0.06-0.44
0.51-0.0677.50.02490.12-0.06-0.50
0.45-0.06800.02490.11-0.06-0.56
0.39-0.0682.50.02420.11-0.06-0.62
0.33-0.05850.02310.10-0.05-0.67
0.28-0.0587.50.02160.10-0.05-0.72
0.24-0.04900.01980.09-0.04-0.77
0.20-0.0492.50.01780.08-0.04-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 41 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot5066727884905K0
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

spot17.55065768797.599K99K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 249K call contracts, 152K 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: MCHP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk