Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 13, 11:43 PM ET

MUR max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.79
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$32.5-6.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.2±43.7% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.93696 puts / 745 calls
Call wall$32.5largest call OI
Put wall$32.5largest put OI
IV3038.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$434per 1% move · flip ≈ $32.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · 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, Aug 21$32.5-6.6%7d
Fri, Sep 18$35+0.6%35d
Fri, Oct 16$32.5-6.6%63d
Fri, Jan 15$30-13.8%154d
Fri, Jan 21$32.5-6.6%525d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32.5152433425160$2M$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 — 32.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot32.51522.53037.54552.5271271
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MUR 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

spot32.51522.53037.54552.51010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot15243342516064%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 48.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 32.51522.53037.54552.5+$2K$2K
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
0.93-0.0017.50.00750.05-0.00-0.10
0.89-0.00200.00970.07-0.00-0.13
0.85-0.0022.50.01190.09-0.01-0.16
0.80-0.00250.01410.11-0.01-0.20
0.76-0.0027.50.01610.12-0.01-0.25
0.71-0.01300.01800.13-0.01-0.30
0.66-0.0132.50.01960.14-0.01-0.35
0.60-0.01350.02090.15-0.01-0.40
0.55-0.0137.50.02180.15-0.01-0.45
0.50-0.01400.02230.15-0.01-0.50
0.45-0.0142.50.02250.15-0.01-0.55
0.41-0.01450.02230.15-0.01-0.60
0.36-0.0147.50.02190.15-0.00-0.65
0.33-0.01500.02120.14-0.00-0.69
0.29-0.0152.50.02030.13-0.00-0.73

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

spot2532.54047.5552K0
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

spot1522.53037.54552.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 3K 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: MUR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk