Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 11, 11:03 PM ET

MNST max pain

Spot (delayed)$43.72
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$40-8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.75±13.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.8115K puts / 19K calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3029.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$430Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $40

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Oct 16$43-1.6%4d
Fri, Nov 20$43-1.6%39d
Fri, Dec 18$40-8.5%67d
Fri, Jan 15$40-8.5%95d
Fri, Mar 19$43.75+0.1%158d
Thu, Jun 17$47.5+8.6%248d
Fri, Sep 17$30-31.4%340d
Fri, Jan 21$27.5-37.1%466d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40132537496173$51M$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4012.526.2533.7541.2548.7562.55K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MNST open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot4012.526.2533.7541.2548.7562.51414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot132537496173123%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 4012.526.2533.7541.2548.7562.5+$233K−$233K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.01350.02000.04-0.01-0.09
0.88-0.0136.250.02520.04-0.01-0.12
0.85-0.0137.50.03140.05-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.0138.750.03820.06-0.01-0.19
0.76-0.01400.04540.07-0.01-0.25
0.69-0.0141.250.05210.08-0.01-0.31
0.63-0.0142.50.05750.09-0.01-0.38
0.55-0.0143.750.06090.09-0.01-0.46
0.47-0.01450.06180.09-0.01-0.54
0.40-0.0146.250.06010.09-0.01-0.62
0.33-0.0147.50.05640.08-0.01-0.69
0.28-0.0148.750.05130.08-0.01-0.75
0.22-0.01500.04550.07-0.01-0.81
0.15-0.0152.50.03410.05-0.01-0.90
0.10-0.01550.02450.04-0.01-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 35 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.528.7538.7543.7548.75653K0
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

spot12.5283742.548658K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 56K call contracts, 43K 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: MNST workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk