Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:03 PM ET

MRCY max pain

Spot (delayed)$74.87
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$82.5+10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.7±19.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.49772 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$130largest call OI
Put wall$75largest put OI
IV3079.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$26Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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, Nov 20$82.5+10.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$92.5+23.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$80+6.9%81d
Fri, Mar 19$90+20.2%144d
Fri, Apr 16$87.5+16.9%172d
Fri, May 21$90+20.2%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot82.5356697128159190$13M$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 — 82.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot82.5356077.595125160324324
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MRCY 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

spot82.5356077.59512516022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot356697128159190195%69%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 89.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 45356077.595125160+$22K−$22K
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
0.90-0.06550.00880.04-0.06-0.10
0.84-0.08600.01280.05-0.08-0.16
0.80-0.0962.50.01510.06-0.09-0.19
0.76-0.10650.01740.06-0.10-0.24
0.71-0.1167.50.01950.07-0.11-0.29
0.66-0.11700.02130.08-0.11-0.34
0.60-0.1272.50.02260.08-0.12-0.40
0.54-0.12750.02340.08-0.12-0.46
0.48-0.1277.50.02360.08-0.12-0.51
0.43-0.12800.02320.08-0.12-0.57
0.38-0.1182.50.02240.08-0.12-0.62
0.33-0.11850.02120.07-0.11-0.67
0.29-0.1087.50.01980.07-0.10-0.71
0.25-0.10900.01830.07-0.10-0.75
0.22-0.0992.50.01670.06-0.09-0.78

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 40 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot42.567.5851051401755890
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

spot356080100140180600600
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 2K 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: MRCY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk