Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:57 PM ET

RVTY max pain

Spot (delayed)$158.77
Max pain · Fri, May 21$95-40.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$42.3±26.6% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.201 puts / 5 calls
Call wall$115largest call OI
Put wall$95largest put OI
IV3054.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$711per 1% move · flip ≈ $115

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$150-5.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$120-24.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$155-2.4%82d
Fri, Mar 19$135-15.0%145d
Fri, May 21$95-40.2%208d
Thu, Jun 17$125-21.3%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot9595120145170195220$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 — 95 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot959511515015520022011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RVTY open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot959511515015520022011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot9512014517019522053%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 44.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 11595115150155200220+$179−$179
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.02950.00190.15-0.02-0.06
0.87-0.031150.00360.26-0.03-0.13
0.66-0.051500.00680.44-0.05-0.35
0.62-0.051550.00710.46-0.05-0.39
0.32-0.042000.00690.43-0.05-0.71
0.22-0.042200.00580.36-0.04-0.82

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

spot751001251501752002K0
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

spot50801101401702002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K 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: RVTY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk