Mastering Implied Volatility: What Options Traders Need to Know
Master the meaning of implied volatility (IV) and how changes in IV impacts popular options strategy profitability.
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In this video, you'll learn the basics of what implied volatility (IV) means in options trading, as well as understanding why IV changes, and how popular options strategy profitability is impacted when IV increases and decreases.
==== Chapters ====
0:00 Intro
0:30 What is Implied Volatility?
2:30 Implied Volatility vs. Realized Stock Volatility
3:09 Free 170+ Page Options Trading for Beginners PDF (My Best Work)
3:34 Popular Options Strategy Performance vs. Changes in IV
14:07 How to Understand Changes in Implied Volatility
15:16 Implied Volatility Behavior on Meme Stocks (Bonus Section)
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===== Summary =====
1️⃣ What does Implied Volatility mean in options trading?
In options trading, Implied Volatility (IV) is a crucial metric that reflects the market's expectations for future volatility of the underlying asset. It is directly related to the pricing of an option contract and serves as an indicator of how much the market believes the asset's price will fluctuate over a given period. A higher IV typically means higher option premiums, as traders are willing to pay more for the potential of larger price swings.
2️⃣ How does realized stock volatility impact option prices and IV?
Realized stock volatility, or the actual historical volatility of a stock, plays a significant role in driving option prices/IV. When a stock shows high realized volatility, option premiums often increase to compensate for the greater stock price movements, which in turn pushes up IV. Conversely, lower realized volatility usually leads to cheaper option premiums and lower IV. By keeping an eye on realized volatility, options traders can better anticipate shifts in IV and adjust their strategies accordingly.
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Disclaimer: Nothing contained in our content constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, promotion, or endorsement of any particular security, other investment product, transaction, or investment. Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involve substantial risk of loss and are not suitable for all investors. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. You may lose all or more of your initial investment. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change at any time. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. I am not a financial advisor. The ideas presented in this video are for entertainment purposes only. You (and only you) are responsible for the financial decisions that you make.
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Get the slides to this entire presentation included in my new 170+ page free Options Trading for Beginners PDF: geni.us/options-trading-pdf
From india, salute to you bro❤❤
Finally, a video that makes understanding Implied Volatility simple. Thank you!
Love the presentation and whole explanation of IV! Thank you!
Very helpful. Thank you.
Really appreciate everything you do! Super helpful.
wow... that was explained so well... thank you
Professor Chris ! You tell it like it is bro for this infant beginner trader and appreciated Marques
Insightful overview of Implied Volatility! IV gauges market expectations, and realized stock volatility deeply influences it. A rising IV hints at market swings, while a dip suggests stability. Notably, from an AI-driven trading standpoint, IV emerges as a key factor when selling options.
Great video sir I knew there was more to options then just buy call or buy put thank you
This is a masterpiece. I love your presentation so much. You make a confusing topic to be more clearer. Thumbs up!
Wow! Glad you think so! Thanks for your feedback/comment! I appreciate it.
You are simply AMAZING!!!
Thanks so much :D
Great content and presentation!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for the value you're giving Chris, you've helped my trading a ton.
I love to hear that! Thanks for watching and commenting! I appreciate it.
Great information. Very educational and easy to understand.
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for commenting
Thanks a lot! I needed this info on IV to make better trades.
You're welcome. I'm glad this video helped!
Great video.. Follow up question: What makes the underlying positively or negatively co-related to its IV?
Your videos are great with the visuals … A+
Thank you! I just spent a ton of time creating an Options Trading for Beginners PDF (170+ pages now) that includes my best explanations/visuals explaining key options trading concepts and strategies. Check it out: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g7d402wnapqexq344ct73/options-trading-for-beginners-aug15-v1.pdf?rlkey=dort61xyaz1rubndbwbqmhd5i&dl=0 If you want updates to the PDF over the coming months/additional learning resources, consider dropping your email on the page here: geni.us/options-trading-pdf
The visual presentation at 2:40 is excellent! Would love to see another video with that comparing historical IV vs. the actual moves of each stock! For example, how much more 'inaccurate' is a 50% higher IV and is that alone strategically tradeable?
I had this exact scenario happen to me on a trade today where i was right about the market move down and my PUT still lost money. very frustrating but i appreciate the explanation.
Great content
Thank you! I just spent a ton of time creating an Options Trading for Beginners PDF (170+ pages now) that includes my best explanations/visuals explaining key options trading concepts and strategies. Check it out: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g7d402wnapqexq344ct73/options-trading-for-beginners-aug15-v1.pdf?rlkey=dort61xyaz1rubndbwbqmhd5i&dl=0 If you want updates to the PDF over the coming months/additional learning resources, consider dropping your email on the page here: geni.us/options-trading-pdf
thank you!
You're welcome, thanks for watching and commenting!
Thank you for the great explanation, I have a question. I saw most of your educational videos but never touched the gamma exposure level, Is the GEX something important to rely on, or is it a kind of myth
Hi Chris, thanks for the great video - do you still offer the index options seller course?
Fantastic video as usual Chris! I took the liberty of counting the 79 times that you said the word "Implied Volatility". Hope you are having a great day! -Evan
Thanks Evan! Haha thank you for the IV stat! I hope you're well.
great content! btw at 10:49 for short straddle the chart title still says "190 Short Put" instead of "200 Short Put"
I just started learning about option trading but this is so confusing to me still I’m going to have to watch this over a few times
Pls make a video on difference between iv ,vix and Vega
Thanks a lot are you and Mike Butler from Tastylive brothers?
Can you please do a video about IV term structure
So I have a question when trading close to expiration options what should be the standard rule or metric when buying either puts or calls can you make a video about that or explain briefly thank you
Great content Chris your explanations were easy to understand as they help me form relationships in my head. Keep it up keep them coming 💯
Awesome! I'm glad to hear the video helped you out!
The main question is how do you measure IV? How would you say IV is expensive or inexpensive? I use Think or Swims Historical IV line and generally say if IV high relative to where it has been. How do you measure IV to decide if IV is high and I should not buy an option or IV is very low and it would be a good idea to buy an option???
I want to follow the trades of an options trader to learn this stuff. Any suggestions ? Thanks.
With the example of being right directionally, but wrong with IV (@16:00min), all thing being equal, would a trader not close the position when the stock price fell below the strike price (presuming they had already at least broken even)? One other question, do you have a rule of thumb when it comes to entering a trade? Would you disregard something if the IV is below a certain amount? P.S., I like your style ;)
Can you please comment on the company compass pathways, i am looking at 2024 may , but volume is low and obviously in the money like you said . Thank you
Love the data analysis graphics? Would you mind sharing what tools and applications you use for the graphs
I use Python to do the data analysis and use matplotlib (python library) to create the graphs. Then I work with a video editor who animates them. I believe in After Effects
In my opinion, more often than not, spy and qqq strangles work. All you need is one side to go up over 100% which happens a lot woth high strike prices.
Obligatory appreciate comment for the algorithm
God stuff here brother thank you for sharing! 👍💯💯💯💯
Thank you! I just spent a ton of time creating an Options Trading for Beginners PDF (170+ pages now) that includes my best explanations/visuals explaining key options trading concepts and strategies. Check it out: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g7d402wnapqexq344ct73/options-trading-for-beginners-aug15-v1.pdf?rlkey=dort61xyaz1rubndbwbqmhd5i&dl=0 If you want updates to the PDF over the coming months/additional learning resources, consider dropping your email on the page here: geni.us/options-trading-pdf
A bull call spread benefits from an increase in implied volatility (IV). When IV is low and expected to rise, it can be a good time to initiate a bull call spread
That’s only true if the stock price is near or below the long call strike, or fallling. If the stock price is rising towards/through the short call strike, the position flips vega negative and benefits from decreases in IV
I've been directional right on AMC , and its IV burned the money paid even though I bought it ITM and correct on the price move....
Probably super common on meme stocks that experience big IV changes as the stock price moves. Most stocks won’t experience massive IV changes with the stock price but meme stocks are especially sensitive.
Selling call credit spreads would have also been a strategy to make a directional bet, however it would also allow you to benefit from the high IV
Sell atm or itm option spreads
So if I have a long call ITM, I actually want to see an increase in IV more than an increase in the stock price?
what software did you use for your presentation? animations and transitions and such.
It's all custom animations in Adobe After Effects. I do the data/graphics in matplotlib (Python plotting library) and then have the charts animated.
What about volatility about a line that is not horizontal? If there is a reduction in volatility, the price wouldn’t stop changing…but its direction would become more predictable, which could either be a profitable direction or not. I guess you would have to rotate the basic graphs that are being combined to get the others
👌
how often does it happen when IV goes from 30% to 10% (or vice versa) after you made a trade?
That would be a large move for sure and not common in most instances. In SPY, we could easily see a 20% IV to 30%+ IV in a market downturn, and a similar drop in IV from the bottom of a market drop into a rally. The big IV moves were to illustrate the changes in strategy profitability at various stock prices. Also, the passage of time has a big impact on strategy performance as well, which would add to or offset the discussed changes in IV in the video.
I have a question. Does the change in daily stock price affects the IV or the change in IV affects the stock price? Who decides the IV number?
The IV number comes from a broad basket of options in each expiration cycle (each expiration has its own IV calculation). As traders we buy/sell options, and the supply/demand dynamics change the option prices. The option prices go into the IV calculation, so it's the changes in the option prices (which reflect stock price movements/volatility expectations/economic expectations/etc) that drive changes in IV. You could also argue though that IV levels change options trading behaviors. For example, super high IV might lead traders to become more hesitant of buying options and more willing to short options, driving option prices and IV lower.
Thank you for your explanation.
🤑
What about a Long Iron Condor?
it would be the same as the “short” IC graph except invert the long/short strikes and P/L axis. So IV contraction with the stock in between the long strikes (dotted lines) would lead to losses, etc
@@projectfinance Got it. So a Long IC is similar to a long bull call spread in a sense, it's beneficial with a high IV if price is in between the long strikes or low IV if price is outside the short strikes on call/put side?
@@Nice-Y Right. It would be the combination of a bull call spread and bear put spread (both included in the video). Your statements are correct. If either spread in a long IC becomes fully ITM it is more beneficial to see IV fall (more common if the stock price is rising). If the stock is in-between the long strikes then an increase in IV is beneficial.
@@projectfinance Thanks to your videos, Long IC has become my go-to strategy whenever I think the price is at a pivoting point and/or before earning calls.
But iron condors in high volatility stocks
Please provide the PDF on teachable for those of us, that bought your course.
Thanks for this suggestion! I am uploading it to the beginning of the course now.
one fact : if implied volatility works against you it will have much less impact when you are a seller than a buyer . and this is how they manipulate stock prices coz selling naked options , requires very high collaterals that 90% of retail investor can`t afford , as matter of fact it can cause them to lose more money coz they wont have any money left to average in case things went south
Good stuff man… can I just give you my cash and you make it do something
Wait Wait. Go to 5.00 and check what you said. you say if we buy a call option when the IV was 20% and then it starts to increase. You are saying we will be profitable ? Hold on... Are you saying when price increases the IV increases ? Please clarify
I am saying that if you buy a call at 20% IV and then IV increases, you will be profitable on the call option because, all else equal, an increase in IV means the options are more expensive. So if you buy before that price increase happens, you make money. www.option-price.com/ Check out this website and play with the numbers. Hold the days to expiration the same and increase the implied volatility. See how the option price goes up.
So in other words is it good to buy options with low IV ? Why ? because the IV in this case can only go higher ? Correct ?
@@projectfinance I did, thanks. Now in that option calculator they ask for underlying price and exercise price. What should I input. For an example my favorite option is SPY. Should I just add the current price for both fields ?
@@projectfinance ok, agreed. So the lesson here is never buy calls when IV is 50% or more ?
That is a strategy, though buying options when IV is low doesn't necessarily mean IV will increase during your trade, though some traders do prefer to buy when IV is low in case it increases. It is surely a better strategy when it comes to buying puts on an index like SPY because IV explodes higher when the market crashes. So if you buy puts on SPY when the VIX is low (
0dte spy every day
These concepts actually apply there too except at warp speed! An option reaching 0 time to expiration is like implied vol falling to 0% (since the closing stock price becomes certain). Planning to do a video on 0 DTE trading soon
Thankz
zhina！