Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 12:21 AM ET

RUM max pain

Spot (delayed)$5.39
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$7+29.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.15±39.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.356K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$11largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3079.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $4

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, Oct 30$6+11.3%3d
Fri, Nov 6$7+29.9%10d
Fri, Nov 13$7+29.9%17d
Fri, Nov 20$6+11.3%24d
Fri, Nov 27$7.5+39.1%31d
Fri, Dec 4$6+11.3%38d
Fri, Dec 18$6+11.3%52d
Fri, Jan 15$7+29.9%80d
Fri, Apr 16$7+29.9%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot73710141721$4M$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 — 7 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot7371115195K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RUM 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

spot7371115195050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3710141721117%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 76.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 437111519+$18K−$18K
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
0.90-0.0030.05420.01-0.00-0.09
0.79-0.0040.09580.01-0.00-0.20
0.66-0.0050.12460.01-0.00-0.33
0.54-0.0060.13340.01-0.00-0.46
0.43-0.0070.12900.01-0.00-0.57
0.35-0.0080.11870.01-0.00-0.65
0.29-0.0090.10670.01-0.00-0.72
0.24-0.00100.09480.01-0.00-0.78
0.20-0.00110.08400.01-0.00-0.82
0.17-0.00120.07420.01-0.00-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot24.56.58.510.512.512K0
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

spot158.512183018K18K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 121K call contracts, 37K 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: RUM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk