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

KGS max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.45
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$50+10.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.5±40.7% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.722K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3056.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$18Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22.5

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

spot501834516784100$10M$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot5017.532.54557.570852K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KGS open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot5017.532.54557.5708511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot183451678410067%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 22.52537.55062.57595+$63K−$63K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.0027.50.00830.09-0.01-0.13
0.85-0.00300.00980.11-0.01-0.16
0.82-0.0132.50.01120.13-0.01-0.20
0.78-0.01350.01250.14-0.01-0.23
0.74-0.0137.50.01370.15-0.01-0.27
0.70-0.01400.01480.17-0.01-0.31
0.66-0.0142.50.01560.17-0.01-0.35
0.62-0.01450.01620.18-0.01-0.39
0.58-0.0147.50.01670.19-0.01-0.43
0.54-0.01500.01700.19-0.01-0.47
0.51-0.0152.50.01710.19-0.01-0.51
0.47-0.01550.01710.19-0.01-0.54
0.44-0.0157.50.01690.19-0.01-0.57
0.41-0.01600.01670.18-0.01-0.61
0.38-0.0162.50.01640.18-0.01-0.64

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