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

RTX max pain

Spot (delayed)$222.42
Max pain · Fri, Sep 11$205-7.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.13±6.4% by Fri, Sep 11
Put/Call OI1.2545 puts / 36 calls
Call wall$215largest call OI
Put wall$195largest put OI
IV3024.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$20Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $215

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 — 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

spot205190199208217226235$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 — 205 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 11

spot2051902002152252352626
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RTX open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 11.

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 11

spot2051902002152252351212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 11

spot19019920821722623539%23%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 11

spotflip 215190200215225235+$24K$24K
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 11

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.031900.00510.07-0.03-0.05
0.93-0.041950.00710.10-0.04-0.08
0.89-0.052000.00970.13-0.05-0.11
0.84-0.062050.01300.17-0.06-0.16
0.68-0.092150.02020.25-0.09-0.33
0.57-0.092200.02260.28-0.09-0.43
0.46-0.092250.02310.28-0.09-0.55
0.35-0.082300.02160.26-0.09-0.66
0.25-0.072350.01860.23-0.07-0.76

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

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