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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.

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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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How to Read the Volatility Cones Tool

Volatility Cones · Foundations

Free to read

How to Read the Volatility Cones Tool

Pick an underlying, read the dot against the bands, and check the short horizon against the long one. Three moves.

The tool draws a cone for your chosen underlying across seven realized-vol horizons and drops today's VolDex® implied vol on top of each. Everything you need is on the chart — here's how to work it.

What every control does

Choose the underlying (ETFs on ETF Analytics; single names on ETF + Equities). The chart then plots, for each of the seven horizons from roughly 7 to 252 trading days, the historical percentile bands of realized vol — minimum, 25th, median, 75th, maximum. The VolDex® overlay marks where today's implied vol sits at each horizon, and each horizon is tagged RICH, CHEAP, or fair depending on whether that dot is above the 75th, below the 25th, or in between.

The controls UnderlyingSPY ▾ Horizons7 · 30 · 60 · 90 · 120 · 180 · 252d OverlayVolDex® TagRICH cone preview

Pick the underlying; the cone and the VolDex® overlay do the rest. Each horizon carries its own RICH/CHEAP tag.

What to look at first

Read it in three passes. First, the tags: are any horizons flagged RICH or CHEAP? That's where an edge lives. Second, the dot versus the median: how far is implied from the typical realized reading — a little rich, or pinned to the maximum line? Distance matters as much as the tag. Third, the short versus the long: is the 7-day rich while the 30-day is fair (front-loaded event premium), or is the whole curve rich (a broad vol bid)? Those are different setups and different trades.

Two common misreads

Misread — "Implied is 40%, that's high." High versus what? 40% can be CHEAP for a name whose realized vol routinely runs 50%. Read the percentile, not the level.
Misread — "The 7-day is RICH, sell vol." The shortest horizon is the jumpiest and most event-sensitive; a single earnings date can justify it. Check whether the longer horizons agree before sizing.
Do it live

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

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

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