Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:23 AM ET

MRVU max pain

Spot (delayed)$103.25
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$96-7.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$68.5±66.3% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.205 puts / 25 calls
Call wall$105largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV30133.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$895per 1% move · flip ≈ $105

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$145+40.4%26d
Fri, Dec 18$70-32.2%54d
Fri, Jan 15$150+45.3%82d
Fri, Mar 19$130+25.9%145d
Fri, Apr 16$96-7.0%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot965598141184227270$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 — 96 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot96559611519027066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MRVU open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot96559611519027011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot5598141184227270131%125%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 126.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 1055596115190270+$249−$249
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.06550.00250.14-0.05-0.12
0.84-0.07600.00270.15-0.06-0.14
0.79-0.08700.00310.19-0.07-0.18
0.68-0.09960.00380.24-0.09-0.29
0.64-0.101050.00390.26-0.09-0.32
0.62-0.101100.00400.26-0.09-0.34
0.60-0.101150.00400.27-0.10-0.36
0.57-0.101230.00410.27-0.10-0.38
0.49-0.101500.00420.28-0.10-0.47
0.38-0.101900.00400.27-0.10-0.57
0.36-0.102000.00390.27-0.09-0.59
0.34-0.102100.00380.26-0.09-0.61

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot40110125160210270290
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

spot45901251652102904747
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 302 call contracts, 301 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: MRVU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk