Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:04 AM ET

KYMR max pain

Spot (delayed)$110.76
Max pain · Fri, May 21$115+3.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$67.65±61.1% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.6416 puts / 25 calls
Call wall$175largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV30111.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$714per 1% move · flip ≈ $160

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$105-5.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$105-5.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$90-18.7%81d
Fri, Feb 19$90-18.7%116d
Fri, Mar 19$105-5.2%144d
Fri, May 21$115+3.8%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot11585103121139157175$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot115851001201601212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KYMR 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

spot1158510012016011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot85103121139157175112%96%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 105.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 16085100120160+$707−$707
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
0.78-0.07850.00310.25-0.07-0.22
0.75-0.07900.00330.26-0.07-0.24
0.71-0.071000.00370.28-0.07-0.29
0.65-0.081150.00420.31-0.08-0.35
0.63-0.081200.00430.32-0.08-0.38
0.56-0.081350.00460.33-0.08-0.44
0.46-0.081600.00480.33-0.08-0.55
0.41-0.071750.00480.32-0.08-0.60

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

spot40751001251501751K0
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

spot3060901201501801K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 6K 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: KYMR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk