Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:13 AM ET

MLM max pain

Spot (delayed)$507.17
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$450-11.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$136±26.8% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.29333 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$400largest call OI
Put wall$560largest put OI
IV3034.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$391Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $300

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$510+0.6%25d
Fri, Dec 18$480-5.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$500-1.4%81d
Fri, Apr 16$500-1.4%172d
Fri, Dec 17$450-11.3%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot450290404518632746860$39M$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 — 450 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot450290370470530610710206206
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MLM open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 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 · Fri, Dec 17

spot45029037047053061071011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot29040451863274686038%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 300290370470530610710+$74K−$74K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.77-0.054400.00171.66-0.07-0.25
0.75-0.054500.00181.74-0.07-0.27
0.73-0.054600.00191.80-0.07-0.29
0.71-0.064700.00201.87-0.07-0.31
0.69-0.064800.00211.92-0.07-0.34
0.67-0.064900.00211.98-0.08-0.36
0.65-0.065000.00222.02-0.08-0.38
0.62-0.075100.00222.06-0.08-0.41
0.60-0.075200.00232.10-0.08-0.43
0.58-0.075300.00232.12-0.08-0.46
0.56-0.075400.00242.14-0.08-0.49
0.53-0.075500.00242.15-0.08-0.51
0.51-0.075600.00242.16-0.08-0.54
0.47-0.075800.00242.15-0.08-0.60
0.42-0.076000.00242.12-0.08-0.65

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot3904805606407208202K0
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

spot2603805006207408602K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 2K 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: MLM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk