Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 1, 1:29 AM ET

MSI max pain

Spot (delayed)$491.5
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$410-16.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$75.1±15.3% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.1798 puts / 561 calls
Call wall$560largest call OI
Put wall$430largest put OI
IV3034.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$391Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $430

Event risk before this expiration: 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$460-6.4%19d
Fri, Dec 18$460-6.4%47d
Fri, Jan 15$380-22.7%75d
Fri, Apr 16$410-16.6%166d
Fri, Dec 17$400-18.6%411d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot410320388456524592660$9M$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, Apr 16

spot410320380440490550610222222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MSI 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

spot4103203804404905506102424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot32038845652459266037%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 430320380440490550610+$209K−$209K
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
0.83-0.074200.00250.86-0.08-0.18
0.80-0.084300.00280.94-0.09-0.21
0.77-0.094400.00311.02-0.09-0.24
0.73-0.094500.00341.09-0.10-0.27
0.70-0.104600.00361.16-0.10-0.31
0.66-0.104700.00381.22-0.11-0.35
0.62-0.104800.00401.27-0.11-0.39
0.58-0.114900.00421.30-0.11-0.43
0.54-0.115000.00431.32-0.11-0.48
0.49-0.115100.00431.32-0.12-0.52
0.41-0.105300.00431.29-0.11-0.61
0.37-0.105400.00421.26-0.11-0.66
0.33-0.105500.00401.21-0.10-0.70
0.30-0.095600.00391.15-0.10-0.74
0.23-0.085800.00341.02-0.09-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2503604204805406202K0
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

spot2403204004805606402K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K 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: MSI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk