Free LUV Max Pain - Southwest Airlines Max Pain
Use free LUV Max Pain to find the candidate strike with the lowest combined call and put intrinsic value for Southwest Airlines at one selected expiration. Compare the full pain curve alongside business context that includes travel demand, fares, fuel costs, and capacity.
How to use the LUV Max Pain tool
Confirm LUV
LUV is already entered. Keep it or search another ticker.
Choose an expiration
Select the expiration you want the calculation to use.
Calculate Max Pain
Generate the result, then compare Max Pain with price and the full pain chart.
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What is Max Pain?
Max Pain is the strike price at which option sellers (market makers) would lose the least amount of money if the stock expired at that price. The theory suggests stocks tend to gravitate toward this price near expiration.
Chart Legend:
- Green bars: Call option pain per strike
- Red bars: Put option pain per strike
- Blue line: Max Pain strike
- Red line: Current underlying price
Key levels
LUV max pain in detail
Computed
Spot
$41.94
Max pain strike
$40.50
3.4% below spot
Expiration
2026-10-02
Lowest total pain by strike
| Strike | Call pain | Put pain | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $40.50 | $115K | $69K | $184K |
| $41 | $144K | $42K | $186K |
| $40 | $91K | $105K | $195K |
| $41.50 | $183K | $22K | $205K |
| $39.50 | $77K | $148K | $225K |
Reviewed by the QuantWheel research team. Computed from listed LUV open interest for the expiration shown; a reference level, not a forecast. Read how we compute LUV max pain.
Continue with LUV options analysis
Open the Max Pain workspace when you want to keep the calculation alongside your other options tools.
Understanding LUV Max Pain
The LUV options chain represents Southwest Airlines. Evaluate its open-interest distribution alongside business context that includes travel demand, fares, fuel costs, and capacity. Compare Max Pain across available expirations because the distribution can differ from one expiration to another.
For LUV, the calculator tests each candidate strike against call and put open interest for the selected expiration. Review the full curve with the result. The calculation describes the selected chain and does not predict where Southwest Airlines will trade.
How the LUV Max Pain calculation works
QuantWheel tests each strike as a possible expiration price. It adds the intrinsic value of open calls and puts at that price, weighted by open interest and the contract multiplier. The strike with the lowest combined value is displayed as LUV Max Pain.
This calculation uses the selected options chain. It does not measure dealer inventory, intent, future order flow or the probability that LUV will finish at the calculated strike.
LUV Max Pain FAQ
What is LUV Max Pain?
LUV Max Pain is the candidate expiration price where the combined intrinsic value of outstanding LUV calls and puts is lowest for the selected expiration. It is a calculation based on open interest, not a prediction of where LUV will trade.
How is LUV Max Pain calculated?
For each candidate price, QuantWheel calculates call and put intrinsic value across the selected LUV options chain, multiplies each value by open interest and the 100-share contract multiplier, then adds the totals. The candidate price with the lowest combined total is the Max Pain strike.
Which LUV expiration should I select?
Select the exact LUV expiration you want to examine. Weekly and monthly expirations can have different open-interest distributions, so compare them separately instead of applying one result to every date.
How should I use LUV Max Pain?
Compare the calculated strike with LUV price and the full call and put pain chart for the same expiration. Use it as expiration context alongside liquidity, gamma exposure and your own risk plan rather than as a standalone trading signal.
Is LUV Max Pain a price target?
No. LUV Max Pain does not forecast price and does not prove that traders or market makers will move LUV toward a particular strike. News, volatility, liquidity and positioning can outweigh any expiration-related pinning effect.
Is the LUV Max Pain calculator free?
Yes. QuantWheel provides a limited number of free LUV Max Pain calculations. The calculator shows how many free calculations remain before you run another expiration.