Our Indexes

The world's leading
independent volatility indexes.

Five precision-engineered indexes that strip away the distortions of legacy vol measures — giving you a clean, real-time read on what options are actually pricing.

Explore the Indexes ↓ See Pricing

📊

VolDex®

A better way to measure option volatility

VolDex® focuses on the options that matter most—at-the-money (ATM) options with near-term expirations—giving a cleaner, more accurate view of implied volatility.

By isolating these highly liquid and actively traded contracts, VolDex avoids the distortion caused by less relevant, far out-of-the-money options. The result is a more precise snapshot of market expectations for price movement and investor sentiment—without the noise.

Explore VolDex® →

📈

CallDex®

A clearer signal of bullish sentiment & expected volatility

CallDex® tracks the cost of out-of-the-money call options to gauge market sentiment for the next 30 days. It uses call options that are one standard deviation out-of-the-money to measure what investors are expecting in terms of both volatility and potential price direction.

Higher CallDex values generally suggest traders are anticipating bigger moves or a possible market rally. Lower values indicate a calmer outlook or reduced interest in upside exposure.

Explore CallDex® →

📉

PutDex®

Focused on downside risk pricing

PutDex® delivers a clear, strike-specific measure of implied volatility by concentrating on one key data point: the normalized cost of a 30-day, one standard deviation out-of-the-money (OTM) SPY put option.

This approach isolates the segment of the options market most directly associated with downside protection, removing the noise from less relevant strike prices. The result precisely indicates market sentiment around tail risk, hedging activity, and bearish positioning.

By zeroing in on these put options—widely used by institutional investors to protect against market declines—PutDex offers valuable insight into how much investors are willing to pay to insure against losses over the next month.

Explore PutDex® →

⚖️

RiskDex®

A Clear Signal of Expected Market Direction

RiskDex® measures investor sentiment by comparing the normalized cost of 30-day, one standard deviation out-of-the-money (OTM) SPY put and call options. This simple ratio reveals whether the market is more focused on downside protection or upside opportunity — offering a direct view of expected equity direction over the next month.

Unlike traditional volatility indexes, which reflect overall price movement, RiskDex highlights directional bias. A rising RiskDex indicates OTM put prices are increasing at a faster rate than OTM call prices and suggests growing concerns about potential declines; a lower reading signals confidence or complacency.

This makes RiskDex a valuable tool for traders and risk managers seeking clarity on where the market thinks it's headed—not just how volatile it might be.

Explore RiskDex® →

🦅

TailDex®

A smarter signal for downside risk & tail hedging demand

TailDex® measures the price of deep out-of-the-money put options to assess bearish sentiment and demand for tail risk protection over the next 30 days. By focusing on puts that are three standard deviations OTM, it reflects how concerned traders are about a major downside move, often called a 'tail event'.

Higher TailDex values suggest rising demand for crash protection or increased fear of large selloffs. Lower values imply a calmer market tone and less urgency to hedge against tail risk.

Explore TailDex® →

How to Read the Option Window

Option Window · Foundations

Free to read

How to Read the Option Window

Find the zero line, read the shape, name what was repriced. Three moves.

The Window draws one curve for your chosen underlying: the percent change in normalized, constant-30-day option price across moneyness, versus yesterday's close. Here's how to work it.

What every control does

Pick the underlying (ETFs on ETF Analytics; single names on ETF + Equities). The x-axis is moneyness in standard deviations — out-of-the-money puts to the left (out to −3σ), at-the-money in the middle, out-of-the-money calls to the right (to +1σ). The y-axis is percent change versus the prior close, with a zero line through the middle: above it, that part of the surface got richer; below it, cheaper. Constant 30-day maturity means decay is already removed.

Pick the underlying; the curve, the zero line and the sigma axis do the rest. Shape above zero = richer; below = cheaper.

What to look at first

Three passes. First, is it flat or shaped? A flat line near zero means nothing was really repriced — move on. Second, which region moved — the whole curve (level), the wings (tails), or the left side (skew)? That names the story. Third, how big — a 1% wiggle is noise; a wing moving several percent is a real tail repricing. Magnitude separates signal from chatter.

Two common misreads

Misread — "Premiums fell, so vol is down." Not necessarily — check the shape. A wing-only drop is a tail repricing, not a broad vol crush. Read the region, not just the direction.

Misread — "It dropped because of time decay." No — the constant 30-day maturity already strips theta. A move on the Window is genuine repricing. That's the whole point of the constant maturity.

Do it live

Reading the chart is free. To pull your own: ETFs with ETF Analytics, single stocks with ETF + Equities, full surface via Everything.

Your next step

Open the tool → Read: the shapes → Read: FAQ & glossary →

Educational content from Nations Indexes. Nations Option Window® is a registered mark of Nations Indexes. Diagrams are schematic. Nothing here is investment advice.

×

Learning Center › Events & Term Structure

Related in Events & Term Structure