Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 3:40 PM ET

KLAC max pain

Spot (delayed)$152.55
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$150-1.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$38.75±25.4% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.74338 puts / 455 calls
Call wall$175largest call OI
Put wall$135largest put OI
IV3061.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$29Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $170

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 30$155+1.6%3d
Fri, Nov 6$165+8.2%10d
Fri, Nov 13$170+11.4%17d
Fri, Nov 20$224+46.8%24d
Fri, Nov 27$180+18.0%31d
Fri, Dec 4$155+1.6%38d
Fri, Dec 18$173+13.4%52d
Fri, Jan 15$170+11.4%80d
Fri, Feb 19$150-1.7%115d
Fri, Mar 19$200+31.1%143d
Fri, Apr 16$150-1.7%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot150115131147163179195$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 — 150 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot150115145155165175190270270
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KLAC open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot15011514515516517519011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot11513114716317919562%54%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 170115145155165175190+$43K−$43K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.051150.00450.20-0.05-0.15
0.71-0.071350.00670.29-0.07-0.29
0.64-0.081450.00750.32-0.08-0.36
0.60-0.081500.00780.33-0.08-0.41
0.56-0.081550.00800.34-0.08-0.45
0.52-0.081600.00810.34-0.08-0.48
0.48-0.081650.00810.34-0.08-0.53
0.44-0.081700.00810.34-0.08-0.56
0.41-0.081750.00800.33-0.08-0.60
0.37-0.081800.00780.32-0.08-0.64
0.31-0.071900.00730.30-0.07-0.70
0.28-0.071950.00700.29-0.07-0.73

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

spot100144160182.5207.52503K0
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

spot6213015517820626020K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 170K call contracts, 218K 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: KLAC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk