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Official template · advanced · Key levels

Compare modeled max-pain levels across expiries.

Compare max pain to walls and GEX instead of treating one pin number as destiny.

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Max Pain — The OPEX Pin Watch · 21-second walkthroughMarket session Sep 25, 2026

The report UI is recreated from the test app's Sep 25, 2026 session, not a live screen. A historical example with music; no narration.

Max Pain — The OPEX Pin Watch · real test-app reportMarket session Sep 22, 2026Swipe to inspect →
Real Max Pain — The OPEX Pin Watch report in the TradingFlow test app, showing Max Pain by index / ETF for the September 22, 2026 market session.

Captured Sep 23, 2026 on testapp.tradingflow.com. This is a historical example; results on this page do not refresh. Swipe across the image to inspect its columns.

Max Pain — The OPEX Pin Watch · how the report is assembledConceptual map
  1. 01Each root + expiry
  2. 02Separate OI payout
  3. 03Max-pain board

Each symbol uses its own nearest expiry.

Read the output

  1. 01Max pain from open interest only (no gamma weighting) for the index/ETF complex.
  2. 02The same OI-only level for the session’s top-premium single name.
  3. 03The payout curve used to draw that level.

Keep in mind

Price is not required to close at max pain.

How to read it

From report to evidence

  1. 01

    Run the pin watch

    Open Max Pain — The OPEX Pin Watch in Cookbooks.

  2. 02

    Place it next to walls

    Compare the OI-only strike to call/put walls from the Gamma Structure Map. They can disagree.

  3. 03

    Check tape into expiry

    If you care about pin risk, read same-session flow. A single max-pain number without tape is folklore.

Method and limitations

A paid Cookbook of the open-interest-only strike where option holders, in aggregate, would be worst off — for the index complex and today’s top-premium single name, plus the payout curve it is drawn from. Official app template: Max Pain — The OPEX Pin Watch.

What the report computes

  • Max pain from open interest only (no gamma weighting) for the index/ETF complex.
  • The same OI-only level for the session’s top-premium single name.
  • The payout curve used to draw that level.

What it does not claim

  • Price is not required to close at max pain.
  • Max pain is not a GEX wall. Walls weight gamma; this recipe does not.
  • It does not replace live 0DTE flow into the close.

Max pain here is OptionChain.maxPainStrike from open interest only — a different structural level from GEX-weighted walls in Gamma Structure Map.

Frequently asked questions

Is max pain the same as the gamma magnet?
No. Max pain is an OI-only settlement construction. The gamma magnet weights gamma. This recipe exists because those levels can differ.
Should I fade to max pain on OPEX Friday?
The recipe does not say so. Use it as one reference among walls, GEX regime, and live flow.

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The public page explains the report. Run the official template in TradingFlow for a selected completed market session.

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