Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:12 AM ET

RZLV max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.47
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$2.5+70.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.48±32.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.2725K puts / 91K calls
Call wall$3largest call OI
Put wall$3largest put OI
IV3089.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$26Kper 1% move

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$2.5+70.1%4d
Fri, Nov 6$2+36.1%11d
Fri, Nov 13$2+36.1%18d
Fri, Nov 20$2.5+70.1%25d
Fri, Nov 27$2.5+70.1%32d
Fri, Dec 4$2+36.1%39d
Fri, Dec 18$2+36.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5+70.1%81d
Fri, Feb 19$2.5+70.1%116d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.513571012$59M$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, Jan 15

spot2.50.523.551018K18K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)RZLV open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot2.50.523.5510582582
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot13571012220%76%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 84.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot0.523.5510+$6K−$6K
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.000.50.08790.00-0.00-0.04
0.83-0.0010.32570.00-0.00-0.16
0.55-0.001.50.65840.00-0.00-0.44
0.31-0.0020.53830.00-0.00-0.68
0.21-0.002.50.37970.00-0.00-0.78
0.16-0.0030.28730.00-0.00-0.83
0.13-0.003.50.23100.00-0.00-0.86
0.11-0.0040.19380.00-0.00-0.88
0.10-0.004.50.16770.00-0.00-0.90
0.09-0.0050.14830.00-0.00-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot0.51.52.53.552K0
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

spot0.523.551052K52K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 288K call contracts, 82K 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 · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk