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

MDLN max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.38
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$30-7.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.95±40.0% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.51810 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3056.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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

spot30182839496070$3M$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot3017.52532.5405065414414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDLN open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot3017.52532.54050655050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot18283949607058%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 2017.52532.5405065+$9K−$9K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.0017.50.00730.05-0.00-0.08
0.90-0.00200.00980.07-0.00-0.12
0.86-0.0022.50.01240.09-0.01-0.16
0.82-0.00250.01510.10-0.01-0.20
0.77-0.0127.50.01760.11-0.01-0.26
0.72-0.01300.01980.13-0.01-0.31
0.66-0.0132.50.02160.13-0.01-0.37
0.61-0.01350.02290.14-0.01-0.43
0.56-0.0137.50.02380.14-0.01-0.50
0.50-0.01400.02410.14-0.01-0.56
0.46-0.0142.50.02410.14-0.01-0.62
0.41-0.01450.02370.14-0.01-0.68
0.33-0.01500.02210.13-0.01-0.78
0.26-0.01550.01990.12-0.01-0.88

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