Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 9:38 PM ET

MDLN max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.38
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$35+8.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.63±11.2% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.967K puts / 7K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$27.5largest put OI
IV3056.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$74Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$35+8.1%24d
Fri, Dec 18$35+8.1%52d
Fri, Jan 15$35+8.1%80d
Fri, Feb 19$32.5+0.4%115d
Fri, May 21$30-7.4%206d
Fri, Jan 21$30-7.4%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35182737465665$18M$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot3517.52532.54047.5603K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDLN open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot3517.52532.54047.560113113
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot182737465665185%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2517.52532.54047.560+$161K−$161K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.0017.50.00230.00-0.00-0.01
0.99-0.00200.00500.00-0.01-0.01
0.97-0.0122.50.01060.01-0.01-0.03
0.93-0.02250.02170.01-0.02-0.07
0.86-0.0327.50.04060.02-0.03-0.14
0.72-0.04300.06480.03-0.04-0.28
0.54-0.0432.50.08070.03-0.04-0.47
0.34-0.04350.07580.03-0.04-0.67
0.20-0.0337.50.05640.02-0.03-0.81
0.11-0.02400.03650.01-0.02-0.91
0.06-0.0142.50.02200.01-0.01-0.96
0.03-0.01450.01300.01-0.01-0.99
0.02-0.0147.50.00760.00-0.01-1.00
0.01-0.00500.00460.00-0.01-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.52532.54047.5603K0
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

spot17.52532.54047.5606K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 13K 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: MDLN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk