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

RTX max pain

Spot (delayed)$222.42
Max pain · Fri, Sep 18$190-14.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.38±6.9% by Fri, Sep 18
Put/Call OI0.8315K puts / 18K calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$170largest put OI
IV3024.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7.0Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $190

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 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 — 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

spot19070118166214262310$186M$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 — 190 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot190701051401752202903K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RTX open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 18

spot19070105140175220290391391
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spot10014218422626831096%23%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 18

spotflip 190120145170195240290+$2.3M$2.3M
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.001750.00160.03-0.01-0.01
0.98-0.011800.00230.04-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.011850.00330.06-0.02-0.03
0.95-0.021900.00470.08-0.03-0.05
0.92-0.031950.00670.11-0.03-0.08
0.89-0.042000.00940.15-0.04-0.12
0.76-0.072100.01590.24-0.07-0.24
0.57-0.082200.02060.30-0.09-0.43
0.37-0.082300.01990.29-0.08-0.64
0.20-0.062400.01480.22-0.06-0.82
0.10-0.042500.00900.14-0.03-0.92
0.05-0.022600.00500.08-0.01-0.97
0.03-0.012700.00290.05-0.00-0.99
0.02-0.012800.00190.04-0.99
0.01-0.012900.00130.03-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 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