This page reflects BTU options positioning from the latest published market-close snapshot. Intraday price and contract changes are not displayed.
Published Snapshot
May 20, 2026 close
Max Pain — BTU
Data as of market close May 20, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-05-22 shows max pain at $24.50 (1.14 above spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$24.50
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$0.95
±4.1%
Days to Expiry
2
Calendar days
Total Call OI
2,628
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
1,978
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.75
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$23.36
Published close
Consensus
-
Open report for full read
Max Pain by Expiration
Pain by Strike
Drill into expiration
Selected: 2026-05-22
Expiration
Max Pain Strike
Last Updated
2026-05-08
$26.00
5/8/2026, 11:07:45 PM
2026-05-15
$25.00
5/15/2026, 11:06:41 PM
2026-05-22NextUpdated
$24.50
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-05-29
$25.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-06-05
$25.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-06-12
$27.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-06-18
$27.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-06-26
$25.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-07-17
$26.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-09-18
$32.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-10-16
$30.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-11-20
$29.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2026-12-18
$30.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
2027-01-15
$22.00
5/20/2026, 11:07:08 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-05-22 at max pain $24.50.
BTU pain by strike for 2026-05-22 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
15
0
1510150
1510150
16
100
1312350
1312450
17
200
1114550
1114750
18.5
500
817850
818350
20
800
521150
521950
20.5
1000
432350
433350
21
1200
365800
367000
21.5
1400
302650
304050
22
2150
246150
248300
22.5
2900
191150
194050
23
3650
141200
144850
23.5
4600
94950
99550
24
9050
53000
62050
24.5
27150
30000
57150
25
58950
19850
78800
25.5
113250
14400
127650
26
172800
9600
182400
26.5
244950
7050
252000
27
319600
5150
324750
27.5
397900
4100
402000
How to Read Max Pain
Compare pin-risk and strike-pressure across expirations from the latest published close.
What max pain measures
Max pain is the strike where option holders would collectively lose the most at expiration, based on open interest across the listed chain.
How traders use it
It is most useful as a possible pinning zone, especially when spot is already trading near a crowded strike into expiration.
What can break it
Strong directional flows, news, or fast spot moves can overwhelm any pinning tendency, so max pain should support a thesis rather than drive it alone.
The closer you are to expiration, the more useful this becomes as context and the less useful it is as a standalone prediction.