It ranks the full Nations universe of 24 symbols by implied-vol richness and cheapness at a single moment in time — cross-sectionally. Every other Nations tool asks "is this name's vol high versus its own history?" The screener asks "which name is richest and which is cheapest across the whole universe right now?" One snapshot, all names ranked.

VRP is the Variance Risk Premium: VolDex® 30d minus trailing 30-day realized vol. Positive VRP means implied is above what the name has recently delivered — options are rich, sellers are paid. Negative VRP means implied is below realized — options are cheap relative to what the name is actually doing. VRP normalizes across names: a +10% VRP on NVDA and a +3% VRP on SPY are directly comparable, even though NVDA's absolute vol is far higher. That makes it the primary cross-sectional ranking column.

Term Slope is VolDex® 7d minus VolDex® 30d. A negative value — 7d below 30d — is contango, the normal resting state: calm near-term, more uncertainty priced further out. A positive value — 7d above 30d — is backwardation, meaning the near-term is more expensive than the longer tenor. Backwardation almost always signals a specific event sitting inside the 7-day window: earnings, an FOMC meeting, a major macro print. Seeing backwardation on a name tells you to check the calendar immediately.

VolDex® is Nations' clean at-the-money implied volatility index. It reads implied vol at the at-the-money point — where put and call premiums are most symmetric — and holds tenor constant at either 7 or 30 calendar days using interpolation between listed expirations. Unlike model-based implied-vol measures that blend the full skew surface, VolDex® is a clean, single point. That makes it directly comparable across names and directly subtractable from realized vol to compute VRP.

RiskDex® is Nations' directional skew ratio — how much the market is paying for downside protection relative to upside at the 30-day tenor. A high RiskDex® means put skew is elevated: the market is bidding for protection against a drop. Cross-sectionally, the name with the highest RiskDex® is where directional fear is most concentrated. When RiskDex® is high alongside a high VRP, the richness includes a skew premium — the put side of any short-premium structure is carrying extra directional risk beyond the absolute-vol mismatch.

IV Rank (1y), IV %ile (1y), and VolDex z (1y) require a full trailing year of daily VolDex® readings for each of the 24 symbols. That history pipeline is still being wired into the live page. Rather than display a fabricated or placeholder number, these columns show "—" to be honest about what is and isn't yet computed. The live columns — VRP, VolDex® 30d and 7d, Term Slope, Realized 30d, and RiskDex® — are fully operational. The trailing-year columns will populate when the history connection is complete.

IV Rank is (today's VolDex® − 1-year low) ÷ (1-year high − 1-year low) × 100. A reading of 0 means today's implied vol is at the lowest level seen in the past year; 100 means it's at the highest. It's a fast positional read: is today's implied near the top or bottom of its own recent range? The limitation: one brief spike can skew the full-year high and make a moderately elevated reading look low. That's why IV %ile is included alongside it.

The z-score is (today's VolDex® − 1-year mean) ÷ 1-year standard deviation. A z-score of +2 means today's implied is two standard deviations above the 1-year average. The reason it's useful cross-sectionally: it normalizes for vol level. NVDA has a vol level roughly four times IEF's — you can't compare their raw implied numbers. But a z-score of +2 means the same thing for both: each is equally elevated relative to its own normal. Z-score is the apples-to-apples cross-sectional comparison for the time-series dimension.

The Cones tool ranks one name against its own history — is AAPL vol at the 80th percentile of where AAPL has been? The Screener ranks all names against each other at one moment — is AAPL the richest, cheapest, or middle-of-the-road name in the universe right now? The two questions are complementary, not redundant. A name can be rich cross-sectionally (highest VRP in the universe) but at the median of its own history — or vice versa. The strongest signal is both: cross-sectionally richest and historically elevated at the same time.

A vol pair is selling premium on the richest name while buying premium on the cheapest, simultaneously. The position profits from the relative VRP spread converging — the rich name's premium compressing toward normal, the cheap name's premium expanding. It's partially hedged against broad vol moves: if vol spikes everywhere, the short leg loses but the long leg gains. The screener's VRP column identifies both legs in seconds: sort by VRP, take the top and the bottom of the universe.

The richest name in the screener's VRP column on any given morning is frequently rich because earnings fall inside the 30-day option window. That is the market doing its job: pricing event premium for a known catalyst. Selling that richness is a valid trade — it is an earnings vol-crush trade — but it is different from selling structural realized-vol mismatch. The Term Slope column is the tell: if the 7-day is much higher than the 30-day (backwardation), the event is in the near-term window. Confirm the earnings date before trading the richest name.

Twenty-four symbols across four categories. Single names (14): AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, AMZN, GOOGL, META, AVGO, TSLA, LLY, JPM, WMT, BRKB, AMD, PLTR. Equity-index ETFs (4): SPY, QQQ, IWM, EEM. Fixed-income ETFs (3): IEF, HYG, TLT. Precious-metal and crypto ETFs (3): GLD, SLV, IBIT.

It tells you the richest and cheapest names at this moment. It does not tell you whether that mispricing will correct this week or persist for months. The screener is a ranking of current conditions, not a forecast of what happens next. Use it to identify the extremes; use the calendar, the other Nations tools, and your own risk framework to decide whether the mispricing is actionable and when. The screener opens the door; the judgment call is yours.