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

MDLN max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.38
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$35+8.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.65±17.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI2.025K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3056.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$166Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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, 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

spot35203040506070$6M$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, Jan 15

spot352027.53542.550654K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDLN open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot352027.53542.550652424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot203040506070104%40%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 252027.53542.55065+$181K−$181K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.01200.00980.02-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.0122.50.01540.02-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.01250.02370.03-0.01-0.13
0.80-0.0127.50.03490.04-0.01-0.20
0.70-0.02300.04730.05-0.02-0.31
0.57-0.0232.50.05620.06-0.02-0.45
0.43-0.02350.05700.06-0.02-0.59
0.31-0.0137.50.05060.05-0.02-0.72
0.22-0.01400.04140.04-0.01-0.81
0.16-0.0142.50.03260.04-0.01-0.88
0.12-0.01450.02530.03-0.01-0.93
0.09-0.0147.50.01960.02-0.01-0.97
0.07-0.01500.01540.02-0.00-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 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