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

MDB max pain

Spot (delayed)$370.3
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$370-0.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$109.65±29.6% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.034K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$600largest call OI
Put wall$195largest put OI
IV3065.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$124Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $160

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$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

spot370155260365470575680$63M$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 — 370 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot370155210310410510610575575
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDB 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

spot3701552103104105106105858
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15526036547057568093%65%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 65.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 160155210310410510610+$126K−$126K
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
0.78-0.183000.00200.63-0.18-0.22
0.75-0.193100.00220.67-0.19-0.25
0.73-0.203200.00230.70-0.20-0.27
0.70-0.213300.00240.73-0.21-0.30
0.67-0.223400.00250.76-0.22-0.33
0.65-0.223500.00260.79-0.23-0.35
0.62-0.233600.00270.81-0.23-0.38
0.59-0.233700.00270.82-0.23-0.41
0.56-0.233800.00280.83-0.24-0.44
0.54-0.233900.00280.84-0.24-0.47
0.51-0.234000.00280.84-0.24-0.49
0.48-0.234100.00280.84-0.24-0.52
0.46-0.234200.00280.84-0.24-0.55
0.43-0.234300.00280.83-0.24-0.57
0.41-0.234400.00280.82-0.23-0.60

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 58 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