Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 6, 1:33 AM ET

RTX max pain

Spot (delayed)$222.42
Max pain · Fri, Sep 4$210-5.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.58±5.7% by Fri, Sep 4
Put/Call OI1.77445 puts / 251 calls
Call wall$230largest call OI
Put wall$195largest put OI
IV3024.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$54Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $190

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 7$210-5.6%1d
Fri, Aug 14$200-10.1%8d
Fri, Aug 21$195-12.3%15d
Fri, Aug 28$205-7.8%22d
Fri, Sep 4$210-5.6%29d
Fri, Sep 11$205-7.8%36d
Fri, Sep 18$190-14.6%43d
Fri, Oct 16$210-5.6%71d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot210170186202218234250$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 — 210 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot210170195210225240332332
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RTX open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 4.

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, Sep 4

spot210170195210225240135135
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spot17018620221823425050%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 4

spotflip 190170195210225240+$103K$103K
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, Sep 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.011750.00130.01-0.02-0.02
0.97-0.031900.00440.04-0.03-0.04
0.95-0.041950.00660.07-0.04-0.06
0.92-0.052000.00960.10-0.05-0.09
0.86-0.062050.01350.14-0.06-0.14
0.79-0.082100.01800.18-0.08-0.21
0.69-0.092150.02220.22-0.10-0.31
0.57-0.102200.02500.25-0.10-0.43
0.45-0.102250.02540.25-0.10-0.56
0.33-0.092300.02320.23-0.09-0.68
0.23-0.082350.01920.19-0.08-0.79
0.15-0.062400.01470.15-0.06-0.86
0.07-0.032500.00750.08-0.03-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot105150187.5210232.52655K0
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

spot55115172.5202.5232.528012K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 108K call contracts, 102K 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: RTX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk