Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:09 AM ET

MVLL max pain

Spot (delayed)$25.4
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$27+6.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$25.2±99.2% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.18139 puts / 781 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$27largest put OI
IV30131.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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$31.67+24.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$35+37.8%54d
Fri, Feb 19$30+18.1%117d
Fri, May 21$30+18.1%208d
Fri, Jan 21$27+6.3%453d
Fri, Jan 19$20-21.3%817d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot27132334445565$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 — 27 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot27132032364565200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MVLL 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

spot2713203236456533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot132334445565130%120%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 129.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 35132032364565+$1K−$1K
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
0.84-0.01130.00650.05-0.01-0.11
0.82-0.01150.00700.06-0.01-0.13
0.79-0.01180.00770.07-0.01-0.16
0.77-0.01190.00790.07-0.01-0.17
0.76-0.01200.00810.07-0.01-0.18
0.71-0.01250.00880.08-0.01-0.22
0.70-0.01270.00900.09-0.01-0.24
0.67-0.01300.00930.09-0.01-0.26
0.66-0.01320.00950.09-0.01-0.28
0.65-0.01330.00950.09-0.01-0.28
0.64-0.01340.00960.09-0.01-0.29
0.64-0.01350.00960.10-0.01-0.30
0.63-0.01360.00970.10-0.01-0.30

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

spot41927.6738.3353.6766.671K0
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

spot418.33273855702K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 6K 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: MVLL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk