Top Twenty 30-day (V30) Implied Volatilities

Implied volatility is the options market's prediction of how volatile a given underlying will be in the future. Implied volatility is calculated by inputting all known information into an options pricing model (i.e. option price, interest rates, dividends, strike price, and expiry date) and backing out the implied volatility.

Twenty symbols with the highest implied volatilities are ranked in descending order and displayed on an annualized basis. Implied volatility is calculated using a 100-step binary tree for American style options, and a Black-Scholes model for European style options. Interest rates are calculated using the settlement prices from the day’s Eurodollar futures contracts, and dividends are based on historical payouts.

The IB 30-day volatility (V30) is the at market volatility estimated for a maturity thirty calendar days forward of the current trading day. It is based on option prices from two consecutive expiration months. The first expiration month is that which has at least eight calendar days to run. The implied volatility is estimated for the eight options on the four closest to market strikes in each expiry. The implied volatilities are fit to a parabola as a function of the strike price for each expiry. The at-the-market implied volatility for an expiry is then taken to be the value of the fit parabola at the expected future price for the expiry. A linear interpolation (or extrapolation, as required) of the 30-day variance based on the squares of the at market volatilities is performed. V30 is then the square root of the estimated variance. If there is no first expiration month with less than sixty calendar days to run we do not calculate a V30.

Closing price, and change in price from the prior day are also displayed.

Top Twenty Volatility Gainers and Losers

The percent trading day’s 30-day Implied Volatility is divided by the prior trading day’s 30-day Implied Volatility to determine the change in volatility for the day and the top 20 gainers and losers are posted. Gainers are those symbols which the options markets believe will have the greatest up or down price movement in the future as compared to the past, and losers are those symbols which the options markets believe had a large up and down price movement and will stabilize in the future. Implied volatility, closing price, and change in price from the prior day are also displayed.

Top Twenty Options Volumes and Volumes Gainers

Options volumes for the day are displayed for the top twenty symbols with the highest volumes.

The trading day’s options volumes are divided by the previous ten trading day’s options volumes average and the top twenty gainers are posted by symbol.

Closing price, and change in price from the prior day are also displayed.

Implied vs. Historical Volatilities

The 30-day Implied Volatility is divided by the 30-day historical volatility. This ratio highlights those symbols in which the market prediction of future volatility is much different from the volatility in the market over the last 30 days. The formula for historical volatility as defined by Garman-Klass. The top twenty symbols with the highest ratios as well as the top twenty symbols with the lowest ratios are displayed.

Implied volatility, historical volatility, closing price, and change in price from the prior day are also displayed.

Top Twenty Put/Call Volumes and Call/Put Ratio Volumes

Put option open interest is divided by call option open interest, and displayed for the top twenty symbols with the highest ratios. This ratio may indicate negative sentiment in the options market.

Call option open interest is divided by put option open interest, and are displayed for the top twenty symbols with the highest ratios. This ratio may indicate positive sentiment in the options market.

Open Interest ratios reflect a longer time period than Put/Call and Call/Put daily volume ratios and therefore tend to be less volatile.

Closing price, and change in price from the prior day are also displayed.

Top Twenty Put/Call Open Interest and Call/Put Open Interest

Put option open interest is divided by call option open interest, and displayed for the top twenty symbols with the highest ratios. This ratio may indicate negative sentiment in the options market.

Call option open interest is divided by put option open interest, and are displayed for the top twenty symbols with the highest ratios. This ratio may indicate positive sentiment in the options market.

Open Interest ratios reflect a longer time period than Put/Call and Call/Put daily volume ratios and therefore tend to be less volatile.

Closing price, and change in price from the prior day are also displayed.

Synthetic EFP Rates

An Exchange for Physical (EFP) allows the swap of a long or short stock position for a Single Stock Future (SSF). SSFs have an interest rate built into their price that is determined competitively by numerous market participants. Like Repos and Reverse Repos in the debt markets, EFPs provide a cheap and efficient financing vehicle. The EFP transaction is one where you sell the stock and buy it back for future delivery by buying the SSF future, or you buy the stock and sell the SSF.

There are several reasons to use this type of transaction:

1. If you carry a long stock position on margin, the EFP gives you the opportunity to reduce your financing cost because you will likely be able to sell the stock and buy the forward at a premium that is lower than your margin rate.
2. If you are short the stock, you receive interest on the credit balance generated by your short sale, but this interest is less than the premium you would receive by selling the SSF and buying back the short stock.
3. If you have excess cash in your account and would like to earn a higher return, you could buy stock and sell it forward at a premium higher than the interest your cash generates.

The tables above highlight the highest (investment opportunity) and lowest (borrowing opportunity) synthetic EFP rates available in the market. These synthetic rates are computed by taking the price differential between the SSF and the underlying stock, netting dividends, to calculate an annualized synthetic implied interest rate over the period of the SSF. All SSFs are settled through the Options Clearing Corporation, an AAA rated entity, making any interest earned through implied interest safer than with many other interest earning alternatives.

Futures Arbitrage Premium/Discount Index

The fair value of an index futures contract is computed by combining all the underlying values, adding an interest cost of carry for the duration of the futures contract, and subtracting any dividends that are paid during the duration of the futures contract. The table above compares near futures contracts with the fair value of the underlying representing a contract. When a futures price is greater than the fair value, there is a premium, indicating that the market believes there is a potential for increase in the underlying price or a decrease in the futures price. When a futures price is less than the fair value, there is a discount indicating the market believes there is a potential for a decrease in the underlying price or an increase in the futures price.