Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 10:02 AM ET

CGNX max pain

Spot (delayed)$56.25
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$45-20.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$26.9±47.8% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.3120 puts / 65 calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3068.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $40

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$60+6.7%24d
Fri, Dec 18$55-2.2%52d
Fri, Feb 19$60+6.7%115d
Fri, May 21$55-2.2%206d
Fri, Jan 21$45-20.0%451d
Fri, Jan 19$35-37.8%815d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45304356698295$1M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot453045556575952222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CGNX open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot4530455565759511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot30435669829559%54%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 40304555657595+$814−$814
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.00300.00440.10-0.01-0.09
0.82-0.01400.00740.16-0.01-0.18
0.77-0.01450.00880.19-0.01-0.24
0.72-0.01500.00990.21-0.01-0.29
0.66-0.01550.01070.23-0.01-0.35
0.61-0.01600.01120.24-0.01-0.41
0.56-0.01650.01160.24-0.01-0.47
0.51-0.01700.01170.24-0.01-0.52
0.47-0.01750.01170.24-0.01-0.57
0.43-0.01800.01150.24-0.01-0.62
0.32-0.01950.01050.22-0.01-0.75

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

spot25405570851002K0
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

spot25405570851002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 3K 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: CGNX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk