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

KNX max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.43
Max pain · Fri, May 21$62.5+3.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.7±22.7% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.3014 puts / 47 calls
Call wall$95largest call OI
Put wall$62.5largest put OI
IV3035.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$60-0.7%24d
Fri, Dec 18$65+7.6%52d
Fri, Jan 15$60-0.7%80d
Fri, Feb 19$70+15.8%115d
Fri, May 21$62.5+3.4%206d
Fri, Jan 21$57.5-4.8%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot62.5334558708395$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 — 62.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot62.532.55062.567.570952727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KNX open contracts per strike for Fri, May 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, May 21

spot62.532.55062.567.5709522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot33455870839553%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 5032.55062.567.57095+$1K−$1K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0032.50.00340.04-0.01-0.04
0.81-0.01500.01490.13-0.01-0.20
0.56-0.0162.50.02400.18-0.02-0.47
0.44-0.0167.50.02430.18-0.02-0.60
0.39-0.01700.02360.17-0.02-0.66
0.10-0.01950.00970.08-0.01-1.00

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

spot22.542.557.57082.510059K0
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

spot203550658010059K59K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 163K call contracts, 12K 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: KNX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk