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

MMM max pain

Spot (delayed)$172.01
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$170-1.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.45±6.7% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI0.7881 puts / 104 calls
Call wall$175largest call OI
Put wall$160largest put OI
IV3026.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$29Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $175

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

spot170140151162173184195$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 — 170 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot1701401501601701801902727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MMM open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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 27

spot1701401501601701801902727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot14015116217318419549%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spotflip 175140150160170180190+$18K−$18K
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 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.011400.00300.03-0.02-0.03
0.97-0.021450.00490.04-0.02-0.04
0.94-0.021500.00800.07-0.03-0.07
0.89-0.041550.01310.10-0.04-0.12
0.81-0.051600.01930.15-0.06-0.20
0.70-0.071650.02520.19-0.07-0.32
0.56-0.071700.02880.22-0.07-0.45
0.42-0.071750.02870.21-0.07-0.59
0.28-0.061800.02510.19-0.06-0.73
0.18-0.051850.01940.15-0.04-0.83
0.11-0.031900.01350.10-0.03-0.90
0.07-0.021950.00900.07-0.02-0.94

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

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