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

MGNI max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.89
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$21-8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.4±32.3% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.15115 puts / 767 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$12largest put OI
IV3073.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $27

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

spot21121721263035$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 — 21 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot211220242832528528
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MGNI 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

spot21122024283211
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot12172126303577%57%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 58.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 271220242832+$9K−$9K
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
0.94-0.00120.01030.02-0.00-0.07
0.88-0.01150.01850.03-0.01-0.12
0.80-0.01180.02890.04-0.01-0.21
0.72-0.01200.03540.05-0.01-0.28
0.68-0.01210.03800.06-0.01-0.33
0.64-0.01220.04020.06-0.01-0.37
0.56-0.01240.04280.06-0.01-0.45
0.52-0.01250.04340.06-0.01-0.50
0.44-0.01270.04290.06-0.01-0.58
0.41-0.01280.04220.06-0.01-0.61
0.34-0.01300.03980.06-0.01-0.68
0.32-0.01310.03830.06-0.01-0.71
0.29-0.01320.03670.05-0.01-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 15 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