Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 14, 6:20 AM ET

MDU max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.29
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$15-26.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.53±17.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.034 puts / 116 calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3031.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, 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

spot15131620232730$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1512.517.522.5304747
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDU 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

spot1512.517.522.53011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot13162023273055%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12.517.522.530+$2K$2K
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
0.94-0.0012.50.01680.02-0.00-0.07
0.89-0.00150.03280.02-0.00-0.12
0.80-0.0017.50.06540.04-0.00-0.21
0.59-0.00200.11840.05-0.00-0.43
0.31-0.0022.50.10770.05-0.00-0.72
0.17-0.00250.06630.03-0.00-0.86
0.09-0.00300.03050.02-0.00-0.95

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