Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:01 AM ET

MDB max pain

Spot (delayed)$370.3
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$310-16.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$76.5±20.7% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI2.12524 puts / 247 calls
Call wall$245largest call OI
Put wall$245largest put OI
IV3065.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$22Kper 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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$360-2.8%4d
Fri, Nov 6$350-5.5%11d
Fri, Nov 13$345-6.8%18d
Fri, Nov 20$350-5.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$300-19.0%32d
Fri, Dec 4$310-16.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$350-5.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$320-13.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$370-0.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$350-5.5%144d
Fri, Apr 16$300-19.0%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot310185254323392461530$5M$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 — 310 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot310185240300360400450137137
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDB open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot310185240300360400450282282
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot185254323392461530118%72%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 76.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot185240300360400450+$28K−$28K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.81-0.313050.00270.34-0.31-0.19
0.80-0.333100.00290.36-0.33-0.20
0.72-0.383300.00340.42-0.39-0.28
0.71-0.403350.00360.43-0.40-0.29
0.69-0.413400.00370.45-0.41-0.32
0.60-0.443600.00400.48-0.44-0.40
0.58-0.443650.00410.49-0.45-0.42
0.56-0.453700.00410.50-0.45-0.44
0.52-0.453800.00420.50-0.46-0.48
0.48-0.453900.00420.50-0.45-0.52
0.46-0.453950.00420.50-0.45-0.54
0.44-0.444000.00420.50-0.45-0.56
0.40-0.434100.00410.49-0.44-0.60
0.35-0.414250.00390.47-0.42-0.66
0.33-0.404300.00390.46-0.41-0.67

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 36 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1702603253654054601K0
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

spot901652603554505808K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 176K call contracts, 105K 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: MDB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk