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

CGNX max pain

Spot (delayed)$56.25
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$35-37.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$35.85±63.7% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.128 puts / 69 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3068.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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

spot35304254667890$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot353040506075901818
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CGNX open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 19.

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 19

spot3530405060759022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot30425466789060%57%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 35304050607590+$441−$441
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.00300.00370.15-0.01-0.11
0.87-0.00350.00450.18-0.01-0.15
0.83-0.00400.00530.21-0.01-0.18
0.79-0.01450.00600.24-0.01-0.23
0.76-0.01500.00660.26-0.01-0.27
0.72-0.01550.00710.28-0.01-0.31
0.69-0.01600.00750.29-0.01-0.35
0.62-0.01700.00810.32-0.01-0.43
0.59-0.01750.00820.32-0.01-0.47
0.56-0.01800.00830.33-0.01-0.51
0.51-0.01900.00840.33-0.01-0.58

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