Max Pain The Critical Options Strike Every Trader Needs to Know

1616 reads · Last updated: January 16, 2026

The max pain price refers to a specific strike price at which the total value loss of expiring call and put options is the greatest. In other words, "max pain" is the strike price at which the highest number of options (whether calls or puts) expire worthless. The term originates from the max pain theory, which posits that most traders who buy and hold option contracts until expiration will incur losses.

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