Options Max Pain Calculator

What is options max pain?

Options max pain is the strike where listed calls and puts would pay out the least if the underlying expired at that price. The usual story is that dealers and other option sellers, in aggregate, are least exposed there, so price can pin toward that strike into expiration. Treat it as a map of open-interest liability, not a prediction that the stock or ETF must close there.

How this calculator computes max pain

Pick a ticker and expiration. We load that expiry’s Yahoo Finance chain and, at every listed strike, take call open interest and put open interest. Missing open interest is treated as zero.

Then, for every candidate expiry price T (each listed strike), we add writer liability if the underlying settled at T:

• Calls struck below T are in the money: call open interest × (T − strike) × 100
• Puts struck above T are in the money: put open interest × (strike − T) × 100
• At T, intrinsic value is zero

That sum is cumulative liability. Max pain is the strike with the lowest total. If two or more strikes tie, each is highlighted.

How to interpret the results

The highlighted row is max pain for the expiration you selected. Call interest and put interest are contract open interest at that strike; cumulative liability is the dollar payout to option holders if the underlying expired exactly there. Sorting by cumulative liability shows whether pain is concentrated at one strike or spread across a range. Large call open interest below a strike raises liability if price finishes higher; large put open interest above a strike raises liability if price finishes lower.

Stocks and ETFs supported

The ticker list is options-listed U.S. stocks and ETFs from the NASDAQ, NYSE, and ETF screens we refresh, including leveraged and inverse ETFs such as SPXL and SPXU (and other 2x/3x funds such as TQQQ and SQQQ). A few index underlyings with listed options, such as SPX, NDX, and VIX, are included as well. Newly listed products show up after the next universe refresh.

Limitations of max pain

• Open interest is not intraday. Yahoo’s chain typically reflects the prior session, and traders can open or close contracts before we (or anyone) see the update.
• Open interest changes through the cycle, so the max pain strike can move, especially near expiration.
• The calculation uses listed strikes and open interest only. It does not model dealer hedging, gamma, or trades outside this chain.
• It is not predictive certainty. Stocks and ETFs regularly expire away from max pain.
• For leveraged and inverse ETFs, the options are on the ETF itself, not a one-to-one map of the underlying index.