Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 5:42 AM ET

MTN max pain

Spot (delayed)$140.09
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$130-7.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$35±25.0% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.75100 puts / 133 calls
Call wall$175largest call OI
Put wall$130largest put OI
IV3044.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $175

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 18$140-0.1%5d
Fri, Oct 16$135-3.6%33d
Fri, Nov 20$130-7.2%68d
Fri, Jan 15$150+7.1%124d
Fri, Apr 16$130-7.2%215d
Fri, Dec 17$135-3.6%460d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot13080108136164192220$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 — 130 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot130801051351551902206464
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MTN 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

spot1308010513515519022022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot8010813616419222051%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 17580105135155190220+$10K$10K
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
0.92-0.02950.00440.16-0.02-0.12
0.89-0.031000.00510.18-0.03-0.15
0.85-0.031050.00580.22-0.03-0.18
0.82-0.031100.00640.27-0.03-0.21
0.74-0.031200.00770.33-0.04-0.29
0.65-0.041300.00880.38-0.04-0.37
0.60-0.041350.00920.39-0.04-0.42
0.56-0.041400.00950.41-0.04-0.46
0.51-0.041450.00960.41-0.04-0.51
0.46-0.041500.00960.41-0.04-0.55
0.42-0.041550.00950.40-0.04-0.59
0.38-0.041600.00930.39-0.03-0.64
0.34-0.031650.00900.38-0.03-0.68
0.27-0.031750.00810.34-0.03-0.74
0.18-0.021900.00660.27-0.02-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot901151401651902301K0
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

spot65951251551852302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K 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: MTN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk