Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:11 AM ET

MGNI max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.89
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$20-12.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.28±18.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.233K puts / 14K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$18largest put OI
IV3073.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$323Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$24+4.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$20-12.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$19-17.0%81d
Fri, Feb 19$23+0.5%116d
Fri, Mar 19$23+0.5%144d
Fri, Apr 16$21-8.3%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2031016232936$11M$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, Dec 18

spot20311172329358K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MGNI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot203111723293599
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot71319243036235%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2561218243036+$193K−$193K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.01160.02380.02-0.01-0.11
0.87-0.01170.02950.02-0.01-0.13
0.84-0.01180.03630.02-0.01-0.17
0.80-0.02190.04410.03-0.02-0.21
0.75-0.02200.05240.03-0.02-0.26
0.69-0.02210.06020.03-0.02-0.32
0.62-0.02220.06640.03-0.02-0.38
0.55-0.02230.07010.04-0.02-0.45
0.48-0.02240.07100.04-0.02-0.52
0.42-0.02250.06940.04-0.02-0.59
0.36-0.02260.06590.03-0.02-0.65
0.31-0.02270.06120.03-0.02-0.70
0.26-0.02280.05600.03-0.02-0.75
0.23-0.02290.05070.03-0.02-0.79
0.19-0.01300.04550.03-0.01-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.512.517.522.5283412K0
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

spot1712.518243113K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 54K call contracts, 16K 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: MGNI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk