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

RCUS max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.51
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$20-11.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.63±29.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.2658 puts / 224 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3083.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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, 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

spot2081523303845$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, Jan 15

spot207.517.522.530406464
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RCUS open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot207.517.522.5304011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot131926323945188%53%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 74.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 17.57.517.522.53040+$875−$875
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.017.50.00570.01-0.01-0.06
0.89-0.0112.50.01460.02-0.01-0.10
0.77-0.0217.50.02960.03-0.02-0.22
0.67-0.02200.03690.04-0.02-0.32
0.56-0.0222.50.04140.04-0.02-0.42
0.46-0.02250.04250.04-0.02-0.52
0.29-0.02300.03710.04-0.01-0.69
0.18-0.01350.02810.03-0.01-0.80
0.11-0.01400.01980.02-0.01-0.87
0.07-0.01450.01350.01-0.00-0.91

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

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