Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:03 AM ET

KRYS max pain

Spot (delayed)$311.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$340+9.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$44.85±14.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.85153 puts / 181 calls
Call wall$340largest call OI
Put wall$340largest put OI
IV3048.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $260

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$320+2.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$340+9.1%53d
Fri, Feb 19$340+9.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$300-3.7%144d
Fri, May 21$300-3.7%207d
Thu, Jun 17$300-3.7%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot340250278306334362390$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 — 340 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot340250310330350380151151
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KRYS 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

spot34025031033035038011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot25027830633436239054%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 260250310330350380+$12K−$12K
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
0.88-0.122500.00310.25-0.12-0.12
0.84-0.142600.00380.29-0.14-0.16
0.56-0.203100.00700.48-0.20-0.45
0.49-0.203200.00710.49-0.20-0.52
0.42-0.193300.00710.48-0.20-0.59
0.35-0.183400.00680.45-0.18-0.65
0.29-0.173500.00630.42-0.17-0.72
0.18-0.123700.00500.33-0.13-0.83
0.14-0.103800.00430.28-0.11-0.87
0.11-0.093900.00360.24-0.10-0.91

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

spot1302303003704405208220
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

spot1301702203003804601K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: KRYS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk