Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 13, 9:37 AM ET

RH max pain

Spot (delayed)$134.07
Max pain · Fri, Oct 30$145+8.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$24±17.9% by Fri, Oct 30
Put/Call OI7.6038 puts / 5 calls
Call wall$135largest call OI
Put wall$145largest put OI
Net GEX−$8Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Sep 18$152.5+13.7%5d
Fri, Sep 25$150+11.9%12d
Fri, Oct 2$140+4.4%19d
Fri, Oct 9$145+8.2%26d
Fri, Oct 16$145+8.2%33d
Fri, Oct 23$110-18.0%40d
Fri, Oct 30$145+8.2%47d
Fri, Nov 20$160+19.3%68d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot145125140155170185200$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 — 145 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot1451251351451602003030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RH open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 30.

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, Oct 30

spot1451251351451602004040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot12514015517018520074%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 60.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot125135145160200+$7K$7K
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, Oct 30

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.68-0.111250.01190.18-0.11-0.33
0.55-0.121350.01330.20-0.12-0.46
0.42-0.121450.01320.19-0.12-0.59
0.27-0.101600.01100.16-0.10-0.76
0.06-0.042000.00380.06-0.04-0.97

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

spot601201411602002702K0
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

spot551001401802403205K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 36K call contracts, 32K 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: RH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk