Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 9:08 AM ET

MMM max pain

Spot (delayed)$172.01
Max pain · Fri, Nov 13$170-1.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.7±5.6% by Fri, Nov 13
Put/Call OI1.06520 puts / 492 calls
Call wall$175largest call OI
Put wall$170largest put OI
IV3026.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$65Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $180

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 23$165-4.1%2d
Fri, Oct 30$165-4.1%9d
Fri, Nov 6$170-1.2%16d
Fri, Nov 13$170-1.2%23d
Fri, Nov 20$165-4.1%30d
Fri, Nov 27$170-1.2%37d
Fri, Dec 18$160-7.0%58d
Fri, Jan 15$155-9.9%86d
Fri, Mar 19$170-1.2%149d
Fri, Apr 16$165-4.1%177d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot170140157174191208225$3M$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 — 170 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot170140155170185210225150150
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MMM open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 13.

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, Nov 13

spot170140155170185210225101101
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spot14015717419120822567%23%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 13

spotflip 180140155170185210225+$67K−$67K
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, Nov 13

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.021400.00310.03-0.02-0.03
0.97-0.021450.00460.04-0.03-0.04
0.95-0.031500.00710.05-0.03-0.06
0.92-0.041550.01160.07-0.04-0.09
0.85-0.061600.01900.10-0.06-0.17
0.73-0.081650.02760.14-0.09-0.29
0.58-0.101700.03350.17-0.10-0.45
0.41-0.101750.03360.17-0.09-0.61
0.26-0.081800.02800.14-0.07-0.76
0.15-0.061850.01980.11-0.05-0.86
0.09-0.041900.01310.07-0.04-0.92
0.07-0.041950.00910.06-0.03-0.94
0.04-0.032100.00430.04-0.02-0.96
0.03-0.032150.00350.03-0.02-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot95130146157.5175192.52K0
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

spot65115143157.5182.521513K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 67K call contracts, 46K 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: MMM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk