Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 2:43 AM ET

MSGS max pain

Spot (delayed)$388.63
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$410+5.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$34.45±8.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.3483 puts / 62 calls
Call wall$430largest call OI
Put wall$370largest put OI
IV3030.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$38Kper 1% move

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$390+0.4%27d
Fri, Dec 18$410+5.5%55d
Fri, Feb 19$390+0.4%118d
Fri, May 21$420+8.1%209d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot410300338376414452490$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 — 410 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4103003403704004304702323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MSGS open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot41030034037040043047055
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot30033837641445249038%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot300340370400430470+$27K−$27K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.063200.00230.19-0.06-0.06
0.91-0.073300.00310.24-0.07-0.09
0.88-0.093400.00410.31-0.09-0.12
0.83-0.103500.00520.38-0.11-0.17
0.78-0.123600.00650.46-0.12-0.23
0.70-0.143700.00770.53-0.14-0.30
0.62-0.153800.00860.58-0.15-0.38
0.53-0.153900.00920.60-0.16-0.47
0.44-0.154000.00920.60-0.16-0.57
0.35-0.144100.00870.57-0.15-0.66
0.28-0.134200.00780.51-0.14-0.74
0.21-0.114300.00680.45-0.12-0.81
0.16-0.094400.00560.37-0.10-0.87
0.12-0.084500.00450.31-0.09-0.92
0.07-0.054700.00280.20-0.05-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1852503203904605302K0
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

spot1852403103804505202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 10K 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: MSGS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk