Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 9:44 AM ET

RCL max pain

Spot (delayed)$281.51
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$280-0.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$35.25±12.5% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI3.2526 puts / 8 calls
Call wall$305largest call OI
Put wall$250largest put OI
IV3048.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$6Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 16$255-9.4%2d
Fri, Oct 23$250-11.2%9d
Fri, Oct 30$250-11.2%16d
Fri, Nov 6$270-4.1%23d
Fri, Nov 13$275-2.3%30d
Fri, Nov 20$260-7.6%37d
Fri, Nov 27$280-0.5%44d
Fri, Dec 18$280-0.5%65d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot280210232254276298320$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 — 280 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot28021023526528031599
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RCL open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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, Nov 27

spot28021023526528031566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot21023225427629832056%44%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 44.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot210235265280315+$4K−$4K
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, Nov 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.052100.00190.10-0.06-0.05
0.92-0.072250.00310.15-0.08-0.08
0.88-0.092350.00420.20-0.10-0.12
0.80-0.142500.00610.28-0.14-0.20
0.69-0.172650.00790.35-0.18-0.31
0.60-0.192750.00870.38-0.19-0.40
0.56-0.192800.00890.39-0.19-0.45
0.34-0.173050.00840.36-0.17-0.67
0.27-0.153150.00760.33-0.15-0.74
0.23-0.143200.00710.30-0.14-0.78

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

spot160227.5252.5277.5302.53409340
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

spot90160205252.529037014K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 47K call contracts, 64K 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: RCL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk