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

MMM max pain

Spot (delayed)$172.01
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$165-4.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.77±6.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.234K puts / 18K calls
Call wall$185largest call OI
Put wall$150largest put OI
IV3026.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$10.8Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $130

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

spot165100126152178204230$93M$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 — 165 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1651001401601751902207K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MMM open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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 20

spot1651001401601751902208K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot11013415818220623083%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 130100140160175190220+$4.9M−$4.9M
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 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.041550.01230.09-0.04-0.11
0.87-0.05157.50.01560.11-0.05-0.15
0.83-0.061600.01920.13-0.06-0.19
0.78-0.07162.50.02280.15-0.07-0.25
0.71-0.081650.02610.17-0.08-0.31
0.65-0.08167.50.02880.18-0.08-0.38
0.57-0.091700.03060.20-0.09-0.45
0.49-0.09172.50.03120.20-0.08-0.52
0.42-0.081750.03060.19-0.08-0.60
0.34-0.08177.50.02890.18-0.07-0.67
0.28-0.071800.02630.17-0.07-0.73
0.22-0.06182.50.02310.15-0.06-0.79
0.17-0.051850.01960.13-0.05-0.84
0.12-0.04187.50.01620.10-0.04-0.88
0.09-0.031900.01300.08-0.03-0.91

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

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