Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 27, 11:48 PM ET

RIG max pain

Spot (delayed)$5.75
Max pain · Fri, Oct 2$5.5-4.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.73±12.7% by Fri, Oct 2
Put/Call OI1.301K puts / 903 calls
Call wall$6.5largest call OI
Put wall$4.5largest put OI
IV3043.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$420per 1% move · flip ≈ $4.5

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 28$5-13.0%1d
Fri, Sep 4$5.5-4.3%8d
Fri, Sep 11$5.5-4.3%15d
Fri, Sep 18$6+4.4%22d
Fri, Sep 25$5.5-4.3%29d
Fri, Oct 2$5.5-4.3%36d
Fri, Oct 16$6+4.4%50d
Fri, Nov 20$6+4.4%85d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot5.5234679$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 — 5.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot5.51.5356.58612612
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RIG open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 2.

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 2

spot5.51.5356.58108108
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot345679139%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spotflip 4.534.55.56.57.58.5+$3K$3K
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 2

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.991.50.00580.00-0.00-0.01
0.9920.00920.00-0.00-0.01
0.980.002.50.01460.00-0.00-0.01
0.980.0030.02380.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.0040.07260.00-0.00-0.05
0.91-0.004.50.13810.00-0.00-0.09
0.83-0.0050.26780.01-0.00-0.17
0.66-0.005.50.44900.01-0.00-0.34
0.42-0.0060.49020.01-0.00-0.59
0.23-0.006.50.36100.01-0.00-0.78
0.13-0.0070.22780.00-0.00-0.88
0.07-0.007.50.13890.00-0.00-0.94
0.04-0.0080.08500.00-0.00-0.97
0.02-0.008.50.05280.000.00-0.99

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

spot12.545.57107K0
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

spot0.52.54.56.58.511247K247K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 725K call contracts, 462K 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: RIG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk