Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 29, 12:47 AM ET

RELX max pain

Spot (delayed)$36.54
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$35-4.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8±21.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.021 puts / 61 calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3029.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $40

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 18$35-4.2%21d
Fri, Oct 16$35-4.2%49d
Fri, Jan 15$30-17.9%140d
Fri, Apr 16$35-4.2%231d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

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, Apr 16

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.52535451K0
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

spot17.522.53040501K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: RELX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk