This page reflects MRK 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 — MRK
Data as of market close May 20, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-05-22 shows max pain at $113.00 (0.00 above spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$113.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$2.24
±2.0%
Days to Expiry
2
Calendar days
Total Call OI
9,713
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
4,674
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.48
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$113.00
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
$112.00
5/8/2026, 11:22:11 PM
2026-05-15
$113.00
5/15/2026, 11:23:17 PM
2026-05-22NextUpdated
$113.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-05-29
$112.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-06-05
$114.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-06-12
$112.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-06-18
$105.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-06-26
$114.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-07-17
$110.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-08-21
$110.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-09-18
$100.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-10-16
$110.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2026-12-18
$105.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2027-01-15
$100.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
2027-03-19
$115.00
5/20/2026, 11:21:12 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-05-22 at max pain $113.00.
MRK pain by strike for 2026-05-22 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
65
0
20413000
20413000
85
0
11067000
11067000
90
0
8736500
8736500
95
0
6445500
6445500
99
400
4625100
4625500
100
500
4173400
4173900
101
4400
3741300
3745700
102
8300
3330600
3338900
103
12200
2939600
2951800
104
16100
2570300
2586400
105
21100
2216700
2237800
106
26500
1879500
1906000
107
39700
1551100
1590800
108
53000
1232600
1285600
109
67900
926700
994600
110
89800
647500
737300
111
120500
441000
561500
112
175200
248300
423500
113
285900
134600
420500
114
573300
75100
648400
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.