Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 2:10 AM ET

MWA max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.73
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$22.5+3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.35±15.4% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.7082 puts / 117 calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3033.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22.5
Earnings · expectedThu, Nov 5usually after the close

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Oct 16$22.5+3.5%3d
Fri, Nov 20$22.5+3.5%38d← 1st expiry after earnings (Thu, Nov 5)
Fri, Feb 19$22.5+3.5%129d
Fri, May 21$20-8.0%220d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.5151923273135$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot22.5152025356363
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MWA open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot22.51520253522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15192327313554%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 22.515202535+$3K−$3K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00150.02970.01-0.00-0.09
0.85-0.0117.50.05570.03-0.01-0.16
0.68-0.01200.09090.04-0.01-0.32
0.43-0.0122.50.10120.05-0.01-0.56
0.24-0.01250.07410.04-0.00-0.74
0.10-0.00300.03370.02-0.00-0.88
0.06-0.00350.01820.01-0.00-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1522.530401200
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

spot12.517.522.53040121121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 494 call contracts, 220 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: MWA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk