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

KNX max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.43
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$57.5-4.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.85±32.8% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.611K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$85largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3035.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$19Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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$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

spot57.520406080100120$9M$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 — 57.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot57.52037.55062.575110641641
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KNX 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

spot57.52037.55062.57511011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot2544638210112056%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 42.52037.55062.575110+$15K−$15K
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
0.87-0.0042.50.00780.15-0.01-0.14
0.84-0.01450.00900.17-0.01-0.17
0.81-0.0147.50.01020.18-0.01-0.20
0.78-0.01500.01130.20-0.01-0.23
0.75-0.0152.50.01240.21-0.01-0.27
0.72-0.01550.01350.23-0.01-0.30
0.68-0.0157.50.01440.24-0.01-0.34
0.64-0.01600.01520.25-0.01-0.39
0.60-0.0162.50.01580.26-0.01-0.43
0.57-0.01650.01630.26-0.01-0.47
0.53-0.0167.50.01660.27-0.01-0.52
0.49-0.01700.01670.27-0.01-0.56
0.46-0.0172.50.01670.26-0.01-0.60
0.42-0.01750.01650.26-0.01-0.64
0.36-0.01800.01580.25-0.01-0.72

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. 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