Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 8:30 PM ET

MTCH max pain

Spot (delayed)$46.3
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$37.5-19.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.35±33.2% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.622K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3045.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$43Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22.5

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$42.5-8.2%30d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5-8.2%58d
Fri, Jan 15$35-24.4%86d
Fri, Mar 19$35-24.4%149d
Thu, Jun 17$60+29.6%239d
Fri, Jan 21$37.5-19.0%457d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot37.5182737465665$6M$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 — 37.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot37.517.52532.54047.555750750
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MTCH open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 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, Jan 21

spot37.517.52532.54047.55511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot18273746566563%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 22.517.52532.54047.555+$16K−$16K
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, Jan 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.00300.00860.10-0.00-0.11
0.86-0.0032.50.01050.11-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.00350.01260.13-0.01-0.18
0.78-0.0137.50.01460.15-0.01-0.22
0.74-0.01400.01650.16-0.01-0.27
0.69-0.0142.50.01800.18-0.01-0.32
0.64-0.01450.01920.19-0.01-0.37
0.59-0.0147.50.02010.20-0.01-0.42
0.55-0.01500.02050.20-0.01-0.47
0.50-0.0152.50.02060.20-0.01-0.52
0.46-0.01550.02050.20-0.01-0.57
0.38-0.01600.01950.19-0.01-0.66
0.32-0.01650.01800.18-0.01-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 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

spot1522.53037.54552.58K0
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

spot15253545558K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 38K call contracts, 24K 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: MTCH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk