Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:02 AM ET

MRCY max pain

Spot (delayed)$74.87
Max pain · Fri, May 21$90+20.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$27.45±36.7% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.2377 puts / 328 calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3077.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $150

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$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

spot904876105133162190$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 — 90 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot9047.57095125165190265265
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MRCY open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot9047.5709512516519011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot487610513316219073%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 15047.57095125165190+$8K−$8K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.0147.50.00520.11-0.02-0.11
0.86-0.02500.00590.12-0.02-0.13
0.82-0.02550.00720.15-0.02-0.18
0.77-0.02600.00840.17-0.03-0.23
0.72-0.03650.00950.19-0.03-0.28
0.66-0.03700.01030.21-0.03-0.34
0.61-0.03750.01090.22-0.03-0.40
0.55-0.03800.01130.22-0.03-0.45
0.45-0.03900.01140.22-0.03-0.56
0.43-0.0392.50.01130.22-0.03-0.58
0.41-0.03950.01110.22-0.03-0.61
0.36-0.031000.01080.21-0.03-0.65
0.32-0.031050.01030.20-0.03-0.69
0.29-0.031100.00980.19-0.03-0.73

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot42.567.5851051401755790
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

spot356080100140180590590
■ 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