This page reflects NDAQ 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 — NDAQ
Data as of market close May 20, 2026
Nearest listed expiration 2026-05-22 shows max pain at $88.00 (2.01 below spot). Use this page to evaluate pin-risk zones, strike pressure, and open-interest concentration before selecting trade structure.
Max Pain Strike
$88.00
Nearest expiry
Expected Move
±$1.98
±2.2%
Days to Expiry
2
Calendar days
Total Call OI
291
Nearest expiry
Total Put OI
69
Nearest expiry
P/C OI Ratio
0.24
Put-heavy
Spot Price
$90.01
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
$87.50
5/8/2026, 11:21:06 PM
2026-05-15
$90.00
5/15/2026, 11:30:23 PM
2026-05-22NextUpdated
$88.00
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2026-05-29
$87.00
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2026-06-05
$88.00
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2026-06-12
$87.00
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2026-06-18
$90.00
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2026-06-26
$85.00
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2026-09-18
$87.50
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2026-12-18
$87.50
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2027-01-15
$80.00
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
2027-03-19
$87.50
5/20/2026, 11:22:38 PM
Selected expiration: 2026-05-22 at max pain $88.00.
NDAQ pain by strike for 2026-05-22 expiration
Strike
Call Pain
Put Pain
Total Pain
60
0
175800
175800
65
0
141800
141800
70
0
108800
108800
75
0
76800
76800
76
0
70600
70600
79
300
52000
52300
80
400
46100
46500
81
500
40400
40900
85
900
18800
19700
86.5
2550
11000
13550
87
3150
8400
11550
87.5
3750
6150
9900
88
5050
4600
9650
88.5
6450
3350
9800
89
7950
2300
10250
90
11650
500
12150
91
20050
0
20050
92
31850
0
31850
93
45450
0
45450
94
62150
0
62150
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.