Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:01 AM ET

RPRX max pain

Spot (delayed)$63.86
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$42.5-33.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.08±7.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.18956 puts / 5K calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$32.5largest put OI
IV3025.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$287Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $32.5

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, Nov 20$57.5-10.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5-33.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$45-29.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$50-21.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5233548607385$20M$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot42.522.537.547.557.567.5852K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RPRX 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

spot42.522.537.547.557.567.58566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot35455565758590%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 32.522.537.547.557.567.585+$59K−$59K
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
0.95-0.0147.50.00870.02-0.01-0.05
0.94-0.01500.01220.03-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.0152.50.01730.04-0.01-0.09
0.88-0.02550.02460.05-0.02-0.13
0.82-0.0257.50.03480.07-0.02-0.18
0.73-0.02600.04780.08-0.02-0.27
0.60-0.0262.50.06030.10-0.02-0.40
0.45-0.02650.06350.10-0.02-0.56
0.31-0.0267.50.05450.09-0.02-0.70
0.21-0.02700.04200.07-0.02-0.79
0.12-0.01750.02390.05-0.01-0.89
0.07-0.01800.01460.04-0.01-0.93
0.05-0.01850.00960.03-0.01-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot22.537.547.557.567.5852K0
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

spot22.532.542.552.562.5752K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 1K 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: RPRX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk