How CBOE max pain is calculated
For each expiration, every strike is tried as a settlement price. At each one, the intrinsic value of every call below it and every put above it is multiplied by its open interest and the 100-share multiplier, and the strike where that total payout is lowest is max pain. The pain curve plots that total at each strike.
Open interest is the count of contracts outstanding, published once per day after the close, so every figure here is as of the prior close and does not move with the price during the session. Open interest does not show whether a position is hedged or part of a spread. Where a chain carries only the strikes nearest spot, a minimum on the first or last strike read is flagged. Max pain is not a price target and not a forecast.
COMMON QUESTIONS
- What is CBOE max pain today?
- This page lists CBOE max pain for the next expirations and the monthly OPEX, computed from open interest as of the prior close.
- Is CBOE max pain a price target?
- No. Max pain is the settlement price at which outstanding options would pay their holders the least, a positioning reference from open interest. Stocks often settle away from it; news, flow and changing open interest can matter more.
- When does CBOE max pain change?
- Open interest is published once per day, after each close, so max pain normally changes once per session. Spot moves during the day do not change it.