Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 11:44 PM ET

CNK max pain

Spot (delayed)$39.92
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$34-14.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.08±12.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.50470 puts / 943 calls
Call wall$37largest call OI
Put wall$33largest put OI
IV3043.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$56Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $19

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$38-4.8%30d
Fri, Dec 18$34-14.8%58d
Fri, Jan 15$27-32.4%86d
Fri, Mar 19$35-12.3%149d
Thu, Jun 17$40+0.2%239d
Fri, Jan 21$25-37.4%457d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot34152229364350$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 — 34 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot34152933374145203203
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CNK open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot3415293337414577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot192531384450131%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 19152933374145+$16K−$16K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.01330.02810.03-0.01-0.13
0.84-0.01340.03320.04-0.01-0.16
0.80-0.02350.03890.04-0.02-0.20
0.76-0.02360.04480.05-0.02-0.24
0.71-0.02370.05040.05-0.02-0.29
0.66-0.02380.05540.06-0.02-0.34
0.60-0.02390.05910.06-0.02-0.40
0.54-0.02400.06120.06-0.02-0.46
0.48-0.02410.06160.06-0.02-0.52
0.42-0.02420.06030.06-0.02-0.58
0.37-0.02430.05760.06-0.02-0.64
0.32-0.02440.05400.06-0.02-0.69
0.28-0.02450.04990.05-0.02-0.73
0.13-0.01500.02950.03-0.01-0.88

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1527323742472K0
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

spot1523293541472K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 6K 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: CNK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk