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

MVLL max pain

Spot (delayed)$25.4
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$20-21.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.95±117.9% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.78131 puts / 169 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV30131.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$358per 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, 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

spot20132334445565$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot201322314055617979
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MVLL open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 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, Jan 19

spot2013223140556166
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot132334445565130%112%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 125.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 15132233455662+$152−$152
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.82-0.01150.00540.07-0.00-0.10
0.81-0.01170.00560.07-0.01-0.12
0.80-0.01180.00560.08-0.01-0.12
0.79-0.01190.00570.08-0.01-0.13
0.78-0.01200.00580.08-0.01-0.13
0.77-0.01220.00590.09-0.01-0.14
0.76-0.01230.00600.09-0.01-0.15
0.75-0.01250.00610.09-0.01-0.16
0.74-0.01260.00620.09-0.01-0.17
0.73-0.01280.00620.10-0.01-0.18
0.72-0.01300.00630.10-0.01-0.19
0.71-0.01310.00640.10-0.01-0.19
0.70-0.01330.00650.10-0.01-0.20
0.70-0.01340.00650.10-0.01-0.21
0.69-0.01350.00650.10-0.01-0.21

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 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