Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:24 AM ET

MUU max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.15
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$25+3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.85±49.1% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.276K puts / 22K calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV30104.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$189Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

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, Oct 30$30+24.2%5d
Fri, Nov 6$30+24.2%12d
Fri, Nov 13$30+24.2%19d
Fri, Nov 20$30+24.2%26d
Fri, Nov 27$28+15.9%33d
Fri, Dec 4$24-0.6%40d
Fri, Dec 18$30+24.2%54d
Fri, Mar 19$25+3.5%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25142230394755$32M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot251421283542497K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MUU 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

spot25142128354249157157
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot142230394755113%95%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 100.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 15142128354249+$63K−$63K
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
0.79-0.02170.01750.04-0.01-0.20
0.77-0.02180.01870.04-0.02-0.22
0.74-0.02190.01990.05-0.02-0.24
0.72-0.02200.02090.05-0.02-0.27
0.69-0.02210.02190.05-0.02-0.29
0.67-0.02220.02270.05-0.02-0.32
0.64-0.02230.02340.06-0.02-0.34
0.62-0.02240.02400.06-0.02-0.37
0.59-0.02250.02450.06-0.02-0.39
0.57-0.02260.02490.06-0.02-0.41
0.55-0.02270.02510.06-0.02-0.44
0.53-0.02280.02530.06-0.02-0.46
0.50-0.02290.02540.06-0.02-0.48
0.48-0.02300.02540.06-0.02-0.50
0.46-0.02310.02540.06-0.02-0.52

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 39 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1522263034383K0
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

spot5.519.52733.539559K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 100K call contracts, 60K 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: MUU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk