Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:09 AM ET

KGS max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.45
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$52.5+15.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.8±19.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.064K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$47.5largest put OI
IV3056.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$115Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $37.5

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$52.5+15.5%24d
Fri, Dec 18$50+10.0%52d
Fri, Jan 15$52.5+15.5%80d
Fri, Apr 16$45-1.0%171d
Fri, Jan 21$50+10.0%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot52.52542597693110$16M$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 — 52.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot52.5254052.56577.5951K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KGS open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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 15

spot52.5254052.56577.59555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2542597693110100%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 37.5254052.56577.595+$107K−$107K
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 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.01250.00490.01-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01300.01220.03-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.0132.50.01510.04-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.02350.01850.05-0.02-0.14
0.80-0.0237.50.02330.06-0.02-0.20
0.73-0.02400.02850.07-0.02-0.27
0.65-0.0342.50.03270.08-0.03-0.35
0.56-0.03450.03490.08-0.03-0.44
0.48-0.0347.50.03520.08-0.03-0.53
0.40-0.03500.03370.08-0.03-0.61
0.33-0.0352.50.03120.08-0.03-0.68
0.27-0.02550.02810.07-0.02-0.74
0.23-0.0257.50.02500.06-0.02-0.79
0.19-0.02600.02190.06-0.02-0.83
0.16-0.0262.50.01910.05-0.02-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot355062.575909760
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

spot17.532.547.562.577.51002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 8K 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: KGS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk