A technical analysis tool that centers on the theory that market participants (sellers) manipulate the underlying stock price to some extent during options expiration in an attempt to fulfill a price that results in the most option contracts expiring unexercised (as they end up out of  the money). This conforms to the empirical evidence that most option buyers lose in one way or another. If the option pain theory holds, it becomes possible to predict the exact price an underlying stock would be trading at during option expiration. This prediction is typically made by analyzing and charting the open interest of both call and put options. That exact price is known as “option pain”.

Option pain is also known as max option pain or max pain.