This page reflects CL 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 — CL
Data as of market close May 20, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-05-22 shows max pain at $86.00 (4.35 below spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$86.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$1.62
±1.8%
Days to Expiry
2
Calendar days
Total Call OI
1,200
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
582
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.48
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$90.35
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
$86.00
5/8/2026, 11:09:19 PM
2026-05-15
$85.00
5/15/2026, 11:11:09 PM
2026-05-22NextUpdated
$86.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-05-29
$87.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-06-05
$75.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-06-12
$88.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-06-18
$87.50
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-06-26
$84.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-07-17
$87.50
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-08-21
$90.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-09-18
$92.50
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-11-20
$87.50
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2026-12-18
$80.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2027-01-15
$80.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
2027-03-19
$85.00
5/20/2026, 11:08:59 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-05-22 at max pain $86.00.
CL pain by strike for 2026-05-22 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
71
0
904800
904800
72
100
846600
846700
73
300
788400
788700
74
600
730200
730800
75
1200
672000
673200
76
10400
615800
626200
77
28300
559900
588200
78
46900
505000
551900
79
73200
450500
523700
80
107700
396400
504100
81
143600
342800
486400
82
179800
290600
470400
83
216800
239700
456500
84
254400
190600
445000
85
292800
144900
437700
86
333000
102300
435300
87
376400
61500
437900
88
421200
28200
449400
89
477200
8500
485700
90
538100
3200
541300
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.