Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:28 AM ET

EVRG max pain

Spot (delayed)$84.66
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$77.5-8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.58±5.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.59892 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$85largest call OI
Put wall$87.5largest put OI
IV3016.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$266Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

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$80-5.5%24d
Fri, Dec 18$77.5-8.5%52d
Fri, Mar 19$72.5-14.4%143d
Thu, Jun 17$70-17.3%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot77.53852678196110$5M$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 — 77.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot77.537.560708090105526526
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EVRG 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

spot77.537.5607080901052424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6574839210111063%15%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 17.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 6537.560708090105+$272K−$272K
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
0.96-0.0167.50.00840.03-0.01-0.06
0.94-0.01700.01140.03-0.01-0.07
0.93-0.0172.50.01590.04-0.02-0.10
0.90-0.02750.02250.06-0.02-0.13
0.86-0.0277.50.03260.07-0.02-0.17
0.79-0.02800.04760.09-0.02-0.24
0.67-0.0282.50.06620.11-0.02-0.36
0.49-0.02850.07480.13-0.02-0.54
0.33-0.0287.50.06240.12-0.02-0.70
0.23-0.02900.04580.10-0.02-0.80
0.16-0.0292.50.03360.08-0.02-0.86
0.13-0.02950.02530.07-0.01-0.89
0.08-0.011000.01550.05-0.01-0.93
0.06-0.011050.01040.04-0.01-0.95
0.04-0.011100.00750.03-0.01-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 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

spot50657585958360
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

spot37.55067.58092.5115837837
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 2K 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: EVRG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk