Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 13, 2:00 AM ET

KIM max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.39
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$20-18.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.83±11.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.872K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3021.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$78Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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 · 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, Aug 21$25+2.5%8d
Fri, Sep 18$25+2.5%36d
Fri, Oct 16$25+2.5%64d
Fri, Dec 18$20-18.0%127d
Fri, Jan 15$22.5-7.7%155d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20131620232730$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2012.517.522.5301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KIM 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

spot2012.517.522.53044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13162023273084%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 23.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2512.517.522.530+$91K$91K
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
0.97-0.0012.50.00890.01-0.00-0.05
0.95-0.00150.01570.01-0.00-0.07
0.92-0.0017.50.02760.02-0.00-0.10
0.86-0.00200.05060.03-0.00-0.16
0.73-0.0022.50.10340.05-0.00-0.30
0.42-0.01250.13000.05-0.00-0.60
0.18-0.01300.05200.04-0.00-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.52022.52527.5302K0
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

spot12.517.522.527.532.537.53K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 5K 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: KIM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk