Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Jul 31, 1:09 AM ET

MEOH max pain

Spot (delayed)$55.2
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$55-0.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.45±28.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI3.81761 puts / 200 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3050.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $70

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · 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$55-0.4%15d
Fri, Sep 18$40-27.5%43d
Fri, Oct 16$45-18.5%71d
Fri, Dec 18$45-18.5%134d
Fri, Jan 15$55-0.4%162d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55253749617385$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot55254050607080712712
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MEOH 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

spot5525405060708088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot25374961738569%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 70254050607080+$5K$5K
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
0.97-0.00250.00240.02-0.01-0.03
0.91-0.01350.00710.06-0.01-0.09
0.85-0.01400.01070.09-0.01-0.15
0.78-0.02450.01450.11-0.02-0.22
0.69-0.02500.01780.13-0.02-0.31
0.59-0.02550.02000.14-0.02-0.41
0.49-0.02600.02070.15-0.02-0.52
0.40-0.02650.02020.14-0.02-0.61
0.32-0.02700.01870.13-0.02-0.69
0.25-0.02750.01660.12-0.02-0.77
0.19-0.01800.01440.10-0.01-0.82
0.15-0.01850.01220.09-0.01-0.87

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

spot254055708541K0
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

spot17.5254055708541K41K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 53K call contracts, 41K 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: MEOH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk