This page reflects MRK options positioning from the latest published market-close snapshot. Intraday price and contract changes are not displayed.
Published Snapshot
Oct 2, 2026 close
Max Pain — MRK
Data as of market close Oct 2, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-10-09 shows max pain at $147.00 (2.70 above spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$147.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$4.07
±2.8%
Days to Expiry
7
Calendar days
Total Call OI
5,331
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
1,062
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.20
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$144.30
Published close
Consensus
-
Open report for full read
Max Pain by Expiration
Pain by Strike
Drill into expiration
Selected: 2026-10-09
Expiration
Max Pain Strike
Last Updated
2026-09-25
$148.00
9/25/2026, 11:23:01 PM
2026-10-02Updated
$148.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2026-10-09Next
$147.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2026-10-16
$140.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2026-10-23
$144.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2026-10-30
$140.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2026-11-06
$140.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2026-11-20
$145.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2026-12-18
$120.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2027-01-15
$115.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2027-03-19
$110.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2027-04-16
$125.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2027-06-17
$100.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
2027-09-17
$145.00
10/2/2026, 11:21:33 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-10-09 at max pain $147.00.
MRK pain by strike for 2026-10-09 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
80
0
7439650
7439650
85
0
6840650
6840650
95
0
5643650
5643650
110
0
3855650
3855650
115
0
3260150
3260150
125
0
2071150
2071150
130
0
1478150
1478150
131
300
1370450
1370750
132
600
1263150
1263750
133
900
1156050
1156950
134
1200
1049850
1051050
135
1600
947450
949050
136
3700
850150
853850
137
7900
754550
762450
138
14900
661350
676250
139
23700
572150
595850
140
34500
487250
521750
141
46000
408850
454850
142
62600
332950
395550
143
84100
260550
344650
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.