Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 4:18 PM ET

KIM max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.26
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$22.5+1.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.83±8.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.34213 puts / 625 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3019.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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, Oct 16$22.5+1.1%2d
Fri, Nov 20$22.5+1.1%37d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5+1.1%65d
Fri, Jan 15$22.5+1.1%93d
Fri, Apr 16$20-10.2%184d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.5151923273135$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot22.515202530447447
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KIM 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

spot22.51520253011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot15192327313567%16%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 19.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 2015202530+$7K−$7K
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
0.96-0.00150.01620.01-0.00-0.05
0.92-0.0017.50.03700.01-0.00-0.10
0.82-0.00200.09590.03-0.01-0.21
0.48-0.0122.50.18330.04-0.01-0.55
0.20-0.00250.09780.03-0.00-0.81
0.11-0.0027.50.05270.02-0.00-0.90
0.08-0.00300.03290.02-0.00-0.93
0.04-0.00350.01660.01-0.00-0.96

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

spot2022.52527.5303K0
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, 3K 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