Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 4:17 AM ET

MHO max pain

Spot (delayed)$126.17
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$115-8.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$26.35±20.9% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.6720 puts / 30 calls
Call wall$115largest call OI
Put wall$120largest put OI
IV3037.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$863per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: 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$110-12.8%23d
Fri, Dec 18$115-8.9%51d
Fri, Jan 15$110-12.8%79d
Fri, Apr 16$125-0.9%170d
Fri, May 21$130+3.0%205d
Thu, Jun 17$115-8.9%232d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1159099108117126135$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot115901151201301352525
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MHO open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot1159011512013013511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot909910811712613537%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot90115120130135+$4K−$4K
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.01900.00420.17-0.01-0.10
0.71-0.021150.00980.34-0.02-0.29
0.66-0.021200.01080.37-0.03-0.35
0.55-0.031300.01190.40-0.03-0.47
0.49-0.031350.01200.40-0.03-0.53

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

spot801101301501701908280
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

spot7095120145170195828828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 761 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: MHO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk