Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:02 AM ET

CGNT max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.86
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$5-49.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.15±21.8% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.0186 puts / 8K calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3044.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$80Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$10+1.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$10+1.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$5-49.3%81d
Fri, Apr 16$7.5-23.9%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot53711151923$8M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot52.57.512.517.522.57K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CGNT open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot52.57.512.517.522.5303303
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot5912161923146%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.57.512.517.522.5+$71K−$71K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.002.50.00540.00-0.00-0.01
0.95-0.0050.02190.01-0.00-0.04
0.85-0.007.50.07880.01-0.00-0.15
0.51-0.01100.17610.02-0.01-0.49
0.23-0.0112.50.11180.01-0.01-0.77
0.13-0.00150.06600.01-0.00-0.87
0.09-0.0017.50.04390.01-0.00-0.92
0.07-0.00200.03170.01-0.00-0.95
0.05-0.0022.50.02430.01-0.00-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.57.512.517.522.57K0
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot2.57.512.517.522.57K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 412 put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: CGNT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk