Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 2:04 AM ET

MDU max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.29
Max pain · Fri, Aug 21$20-1.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.68±8.3% by Fri, Aug 21
Put/Call OI0.125 puts / 43 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3030.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$20-1.4%7d
Fri, Sep 18$20-1.4%35d
Fri, Oct 16$20-1.4%63d
Fri, Jan 15$15-26.1%154d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20182023252830$1M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spot2017.52022.5303030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDU open contracts per strike for Fri, Aug 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, Aug 21

spot2017.52022.53011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Aug 21

spotflip 2017.52022.530+$4K$4K
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, Aug 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.0217.50.06700.01-0.02-0.09
0.63-0.03200.34260.01-0.03-0.37
0.10-0.0222.50.11280.01-0.01-0.91
0.01-0.01300.01090.00-0.01-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.522.527.532.5440
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

spot12.517.522.527.532.58484
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 245 call contracts, 14 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: MDU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk