Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:12 AM ET

MPLT max pain

Spot (delayed)$8.11
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$12.5+54.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.58±44.1% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.80501 puts / 624 calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3093.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$164per 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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$12.5+54.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$10+23.3%53d
Fri, Feb 19$12.5+54.1%116d
Fri, May 21$10+23.3%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.551321293745$2M$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot12.551015202535209209
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MPLT open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot12.55101520253511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot51321293745227%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 100.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 7.551015202535+$938−$938
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.0150.03590.01-0.01-0.16
0.70-0.017.50.07210.02-0.01-0.33
0.51-0.01100.08320.02-0.01-0.52
0.41-0.0112.50.07270.02-0.01-0.63
0.35-0.01150.06260.02-0.01-0.69
0.31-0.0117.50.05530.02-0.01-0.73
0.29-0.01200.04980.02-0.01-0.76
0.27-0.0122.50.04570.01-0.01-0.78
0.25-0.01250.04250.01-0.01-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 9 strikes around the money — all 12 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot512.52030452340
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

spot2.51017.5254055257257
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 603 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: MPLT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk