Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 13, 11:50 PM ET

RCUS max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.51
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$20-11.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.4±24.0% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.0318 puts / 708 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3083.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$20Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$20-11.2%2d
Fri, Nov 20$20-11.2%37d
Fri, Dec 18$25+11.1%65d
Fri, Jan 15$20-11.2%93d
Fri, Mar 19$25+11.1%156d
Fri, Apr 16$30+33.3%184d
Fri, Dec 17$20-11.2%429d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20182227313640$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2017.52022.5253040633633
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RCUS open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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 20

spot2017.52022.5253040637637
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot182227313640158%83%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 102.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 2017.52022.5253040+$18K−$18K
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 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.0217.50.03600.02-0.02-0.14
0.74-0.02200.05740.02-0.03-0.27
0.57-0.0322.50.06950.03-0.03-0.44
0.40-0.03250.06700.03-0.03-0.60
0.19-0.02300.04400.02-0.02-0.82
0.04-0.01400.01270.01-0.01-0.98

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

spot101522.530406K0
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

spot2.51017.525406K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 13K call contracts, 2K 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: RCUS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk