Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 1:10 AM ET

RSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$240.45
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$195-18.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$26±10.8% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.63326 puts / 521 calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$200largest put OI
IV3020.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$48Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $200

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$230-4.3%27d
Fri, Dec 18$220-8.5%55d
Fri, Jan 15$175-27.2%83d
Fri, Apr 16$195-18.9%174d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot195140176212248284320$6M$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 — 195 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot195140160180200240280121121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RSG open contracts per strike for 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

spot1951401601802002402808888
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot14017621224828432043%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 19.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 200140160180200240280+$50K−$50K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.011850.00250.19-0.01-0.06
0.93-0.011900.00300.21-0.02-0.07
0.92-0.011950.00360.25-0.02-0.08
0.90-0.022000.00440.29-0.02-0.10
0.85-0.022100.00620.38-0.03-0.15
0.79-0.032200.00840.48-0.03-0.22
0.69-0.032300.01060.58-0.03-0.32
0.58-0.042400.01230.65-0.04-0.44
0.46-0.042500.01260.66-0.04-0.57
0.34-0.032600.01160.61-0.04-0.70
0.25-0.032700.00980.53-0.04-0.81
0.19-0.032800.00790.45-0.04-0.90
0.10-0.023000.00490.31-0.01-0.99
0.08-0.023100.00380.25-0.01-1.00
0.06-0.013200.00310.21-0.01-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1301551802102609250
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

spot110140170200260320997997
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K 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: RSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk