Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:29 AM ET

MTH max pain

Spot (delayed)$63.61
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$65+2.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.05±18.9% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.95144 puts / 152 calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3046.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $80

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$60-5.7%24d
Fri, Dec 18$70+10.0%52d
Fri, Mar 19$65+2.2%143d
Thu, Jun 17$60-5.7%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot653349668299115$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot6532.547.56072.5851153636
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MTH open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot6532.547.56072.58511511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot334966829911585%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 8032.547.56072.585115+$3K−$3K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.01450.00870.07-0.01-0.11
0.87-0.0147.50.01070.08-0.01-0.13
0.84-0.01500.01300.10-0.02-0.16
0.81-0.0152.50.01550.11-0.02-0.20
0.76-0.02550.01820.12-0.02-0.25
0.71-0.0257.50.02080.13-0.02-0.30
0.66-0.02600.02300.14-0.02-0.35
0.59-0.0262.50.02470.15-0.02-0.42
0.53-0.02650.02560.16-0.02-0.48
0.47-0.0267.50.02560.16-0.02-0.54
0.41-0.02700.02490.15-0.02-0.60
0.36-0.0272.50.02370.15-0.02-0.65
0.32-0.02750.02220.14-0.02-0.69
0.28-0.0277.50.02050.13-0.02-0.73
0.24-0.02800.01880.13-0.02-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 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

spot42.557.567.577.587.51058390
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

spot3045607590120840840
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K 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: MTH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk