Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 4:44 AM ET

MEOH max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.74
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$50-17.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.6±25.7% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.1715 puts / 89 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3047.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$60-1.2%28d
Fri, Dec 18$50-17.7%56d
Fri, Jan 15$55-9.5%84d
Fri, Apr 16$50-17.7%175d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot50304152637485$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot503040506070803333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MEOH open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot5030405060708044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot30415263748572%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 50304050607080+$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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.00300.00290.03-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01350.00470.05-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.01400.00720.07-0.01-0.10
0.85-0.01450.01040.10-0.01-0.15
0.78-0.02500.01390.12-0.02-0.22
0.70-0.02550.01710.15-0.02-0.31
0.60-0.02600.01940.16-0.02-0.41
0.51-0.02650.02030.17-0.02-0.51
0.41-0.02700.01990.16-0.02-0.60
0.33-0.02750.01860.15-0.02-0.69
0.27-0.02800.01670.14-0.02-0.76
0.21-0.02850.01460.12-0.01-0.82

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

spot2030456075906650
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

spot17.525405570851K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 4K 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 · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk