Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 27, 1:58 AM ET

KGC max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.72
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$28-14.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.82±20.9% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.5612K puts / 22K calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3050.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$632Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $28

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 28$30-8.3%1d
Fri, Sep 4$26-20.5%8d
Fri, Sep 11$27-17.5%15d
Fri, Sep 18$27-17.5%22d
Fri, Sep 25$27-17.5%29d
Fri, Oct 2$28-14.4%36d
Fri, Oct 16$30-8.3%50d
Fri, Nov 20$28-14.4%85d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot28152229364350$36M$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot281520253035406K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KGC open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot28152025303540286286
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot152229364350114%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 28152025303540+$253K$253K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.01260.02840.04-0.01-0.17
0.80-0.01270.03260.04-0.01-0.20
0.76-0.01280.03660.05-0.01-0.24
0.72-0.01290.04040.05-0.02-0.28
0.68-0.01300.04360.06-0.02-0.33
0.63-0.02310.04620.06-0.02-0.37
0.58-0.02320.04790.06-0.02-0.42
0.53-0.02330.04870.06-0.02-0.47
0.49-0.02340.04880.06-0.02-0.52
0.44-0.02350.04800.06-0.02-0.57
0.40-0.02360.04670.06-0.02-0.61
0.36-0.02370.04490.06-0.02-0.65
0.33-0.02380.04280.06-0.02-0.69
0.29-0.02390.04050.05-0.01-0.72
0.26-0.02400.03810.05-0.01-0.75

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1520.524.528.532.536.59600
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

spot318.523.528.533.538.523K23K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 117K call contracts, 67K 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: KGC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk