Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:55 AM ET

TKNO max pain

Spot (delayed)$6.33
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$5-21.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.45±54.5% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.2761 puts / 228 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3077.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$624per 1% move · flip ≈ $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$7.5+18.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$5-21.0%53d
Fri, Mar 19$5-21.0%144d
Thu, Jun 17$7.5+18.5%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot535791113$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 — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot52.557.51012.5202202
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TKNO open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot52.557.51012.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot35791113124%93%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 98.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 52.557.51012.5+$724−$724
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.002.50.02330.01-0.00-0.07
0.75-0.0050.07730.01-0.00-0.23
0.50-0.017.50.10660.02-0.01-0.49
0.35-0.01100.08950.01-0.01-0.64
0.28-0.0112.50.07310.01-0.01-0.72

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

spot2.557.51012.52450
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

spot2.57.512.517.5872872
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 337 call contracts, 920 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: TKNO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk