Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 3:09 AM ET

ROG max pain

Spot (delayed)$136.81
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$120-12.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.7±14.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.18113 puts / 643 calls
Call wall$210largest call OI
Put wall$110largest put OI
IV3048.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$46Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $105

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, Nov 20$145+6.0%30d
Fri, Dec 18$120-12.3%58d
Fri, Mar 19$120-12.3%149d
Fri, May 21$70-48.8%212d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1206090120150180210$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot12060100120140165185419419
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ROG open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot1206010012014016518511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6090120150180210117%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 10560100120140165185+$27K−$27K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.041000.00440.08-0.04-0.08
0.89-0.041050.00560.10-0.05-0.10
0.87-0.051100.00710.12-0.05-0.13
0.83-0.061150.00890.14-0.06-0.17
0.78-0.061200.01090.16-0.07-0.21
0.72-0.071250.01310.18-0.07-0.28
0.65-0.071300.01490.20-0.08-0.35
0.57-0.081350.01600.21-0.08-0.43
0.49-0.081400.01610.22-0.08-0.51
0.42-0.081450.01550.21-0.08-0.58
0.35-0.081500.01440.20-0.08-0.65
0.30-0.081550.01300.19-0.08-0.70
0.21-0.071650.01030.16-0.07-0.79
0.18-0.061700.00910.15-0.06-0.82
0.16-0.061750.00810.13-0.06-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot601101351551751954190
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

spot6090120150180220419419
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 195 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: ROG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk