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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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TermDex Alerts: When the Curve Crosses a Threshold

Alerts

Free to read

TermDex® Alerts: When the Curve Crosses a Threshold

The educational layer feeds a live hook: when TermDex® crosses a percentile band for any underlying, you get a push. Here's the format and how to read one.

You don't have to watch the curve all day. TermDex® alerts fire when an underlying's reading crosses a meaningful percentile threshold — the moment the regime is actually changing — and hand you the read and the next step in one card.

TermDex® crossing a threshold — the alert firesalert threshold · 80th pctilecross → alert10080604020MonWedFri

When TermDex® crosses your chosen percentile, the alert fires. Illustrative — not live data.

What triggers an alert

Alerts are percentile-based, not absolute, for the same reason TermDex itself is: a raw level means little across different assets. A push fires when a reading crosses into a new band of its own history:

  1. Into stress. TermDex drops below its 10th percentile — the front is being bid up hard; the curve is inverting relative to this asset's norms.
  2. Into complacency. TermDex climbs above its 90th percentile — the market is unusually relaxed about the near term.
  3. Fast move. A large single-session change in TermDex, even within the bands — the regime is repricing quickly.
  4. Cross-asset divergence. One underlying crosses into stress while the index stays calm — the March 2023 pattern.

What an alert looks like

TermDex® · StressSPY −18.4

SPY TermDex crossed below its 10th percentile (1-year) at 11:32 AM CDT — down 9.1 vs prior close. The front of the curve has lifted above the back: near-term risk is being bid up.

Read: the curve has flipped toward backwardation. → Open the tool · Overlay 1 Week Ago · See the snap-back playbook.

Every alert carries the same four things: the underlying and direction, the reading and its move, a one-line read of the shape, and the next action — open the live curve, overlay a reference date, or jump to the relevant trade.

The note template

The same skeleton works for an email, a desk note, or a push. Fill the brackets:

Reusable format

[UNDERLYING] TermDex® crossed [into stress / into complacency / fast move] — now [VALUE], [CHANGE] vs prior close, [PERCENTILE] of its [LOOKBACK] history.
The curve is [inverting / steepening / flattening]: [one-line read].
Next: [open tool / overlay reference / relevant trade].

How to act on one

An alert is a prompt, not a trade. Open the live tool, confirm the shape against a reference curve, and decide whether the regime change is real or an event kink. A "into stress" push paired with a clean front-end inversion is the moment the snap-back setups become interesting; a "into complacency" push is a flag for anyone selling front premium.

Do it live

Alerts are a live service on any paid plan (ETF Analytics and up); cross-asset history & CSV come with Everything.

See plans →

Educational content from Nations Indexes. VolDex® and TermDex® are registered marks of Nations Indexes. The sample alert uses illustrative values. Nothing here is investment advice.

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