Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 15, 6:20 AM ET

RZLV max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.66
Max pain · Fri, Oct 2$2.5-6.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.75±28.2% by Fri, Oct 2
Put/Call OI2.2011 puts / 5 calls
Call wall$3largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3083.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$18per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$3+12.8%6d
Fri, Aug 28$2.5-6.0%13d
Fri, Sep 4$2.5-6.0%20d
Fri, Sep 11$3+12.8%27d
Fri, Sep 18$4+50.4%34d
Fri, Sep 25$3+12.8%41d
Fri, Oct 2$2.5-6.0%48d
Fri, Nov 20$2.5-6.0%97d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.5222333$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot2.522.531010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RZLV open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 2.

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, Oct 2

spot2.522.531111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 2

spot22.53+$31$31
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, Oct 2

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.81-0.0020.27730.00-0.00-0.19
0.62-0.002.50.46850.00-0.00-0.38
0.41-0.0030.41930.00-0.00-0.57

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

spot0.523.55717K0
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

spot0.523.5571049K49K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 231K call contracts, 66K 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: RZLV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk