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

MCHP max pain

Spot (delayed)$75.9
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$77.5+2.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$21.55±28.4% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.48903 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$72.5largest put OI
IV3059.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$73Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $100

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

spot77.538547187104120$4M$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 — 77.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot77.537.55067.5801002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MCHP 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

spot77.537.55067.58010088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3854718710412067%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 53.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 10037.55067.580100+$113K−$113K
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
0.85-0.02550.00790.12-0.02-0.15
0.80-0.02600.00990.14-0.02-0.20
0.77-0.0262.50.01080.16-0.03-0.24
0.73-0.02650.01170.17-0.03-0.27
0.70-0.0367.50.01250.18-0.03-0.30
0.67-0.03700.01320.19-0.03-0.34
0.63-0.0372.50.01380.19-0.03-0.37
0.59-0.03750.01420.20-0.03-0.41
0.56-0.0377.50.01460.20-0.03-0.45
0.52-0.03800.01480.20-0.03-0.48
0.49-0.0382.50.01480.20-0.03-0.52
0.42-0.0387.50.01470.20-0.03-0.59
0.39-0.03900.01440.20-0.03-0.62
0.33-0.03950.01370.19-0.03-0.68
0.28-0.031000.01280.17-0.02-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 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