Glossary | Vyreon Labs

Vyreon Labs measures 64 US-listed stocks and ETFs every trading day. The measurements cover options-market structure (implied volatility, open interest, put/call ratios, gamma exposure, expected moves) and price behavior (realized volatility, moving averages, momentum and volume indicators), each compared with the security's own history.

This glossary explains the terms used in Vyreon's measurements and upcoming reports in plain language, for readers without a background in finance or statistics. Where a longer explainer exists, the entry links to it in Learn. See also the Methodology, the list of Covered Securities and the FAQ.

Vyreon reports measurements, not forecasts or advice. No term below is a trading signal or a recommendation. Numbers in the entries are illustrative examples, not real market values.

Quick Index

A to C

Assignment · At The Money, ATM · Average Directional Index, ADX · Average True Range, ATR · Backwardation · Beta · Bid-Ask Spread · Bollinger Bands · Call Option · Call Wall And Put Wall · Candlestick Patterns · Cash-Secured Put · Commodity Channel Index, CCI · Contango · Correlation · Covered Call

D to H

Days To Expiry, DTE · Delta · Exercise · Expected Move · Expiry · Exponential Moving Average, EMA · Extrinsic Value · Fibonacci Retracement · Gamma · Gamma Exposure, GEX · Gamma Flip · Golden Cross And Death Cross

I to M

Ichimoku Cloud · Implied Volatility, IV · Implied Volatility Skew · In The Money, ITM · Intrinsic Value · IV Crush · IV Percentile · IV Rank · Max Drawdown · Max Pain · Money Flow Index, MFI · Moneyness · Moving Average Convergence Divergence, MACD

N to R

On-Balance Volume, OBV · Open Interest, OI · Options Chain · Options-Implied Probability · Out Of The Money, OTM · Parabolic SAR · Pivot Points · Premium · Price Channels · Put-Call Ratio · Put Option · Realized Volatility · Relative Performance · Relative Strength Index, RSI · Relative Volume · Rho

S to Z

Simple Moving Average, SMA · Spot Price · Stochastic Oscillator · Strike Price · Theta · Unusual Options Activity · Vega · Volatility Term Structure · Volume-Weighted Average Price, VWAP · Williams %R · Zero Days To Expiration, 0DTE · Z-Score

Assignment

Assignment is the notice that an option seller must fulfill the contract because a holder exercised it.

An assigned call seller must sell shares at the strike price. An assigned put seller must buy shares at the strike price.

Assignments are allocated among sellers by the clearing process, so a seller does not choose when it happens. American-style options can be assigned on any trading day before expiration. European-style options can be assigned only at expiration.

Related Terms: Exercise, Expiry, Strike Price, Covered Call.

See Options Expiration And Assignment.

At The Money, ATM

An option is at the money when its strike price equals, or sits very close to, the current price of the underlying asset.

At-the-money options have little or no intrinsic value, so nearly all of their price is extrinsic value. For a given expiry they usually carry the most gamma, time decay, and vega.

Because listed strikes are spaced apart, at the money usually means the strike nearest the current price.

Related Terms: In The Money, ITM, Out Of The Money, OTM, Moneyness.

See Option Moneyness.

Average Directional Index, ADX

The average directional index measures how strong a price trend has been, without saying whether the trend is up or down.

It is built from two directional lines, +DI and −DI, which compare recent upward and downward range extensions. ADX smooths the gap between them on a scale of 0 to 100, commonly over 14 sessions.

A higher ADX describes a stronger recent trend in either direction. A low ADX describes choppy or sideways movement.

See ADX Indicator.

Average True Range, ATR

Average true range measures how far an asset's price typically moves in one session, including gaps between sessions.

The true range for a session is the largest of three distances: high to low, high to the previous close, and low to the previous close. ATR averages the true range, commonly over 14 sessions with Wilder smoothing.

ATR is in price units and describes the size of movement, not its direction. ATR divided by price gives a percentage that can be compared across assets.

Related Terms: Realized Volatility, Bollinger Bands.

See ATR (Average True Range).

Backwardation

Backwardation describes a volatility term structure in which shorter-dated implied volatility is higher than longer-dated implied volatility.

It often appears when near-term uncertainty is elevated, for example around a scheduled event or during market stress. It is also called an inverted term structure.

Backwardation describes the shape of the volatility curve. It does not say whether the underlying price will rise or fall.

Related Terms: Contango, Volatility Term Structure, Implied Volatility, IV.

See IV Term Structure.

Beta

Beta measures how strongly an asset's returns have tended to move with a benchmark's returns, such as a broad market ETF.

A beta of 1 means the asset has historically moved about one-for-one with the benchmark. A beta above 1 means larger moves in the same direction on average. A beta near 0 means little linear relationship.

Beta is calculated from past returns over a chosen window. It changes over time and says nothing about risks unrelated to the benchmark.

Related Terms: Correlation, Relative Performance, Max Drawdown.

See Beta And Correlation Vs SPY.

Bid-Ask Spread

The bid-ask spread is the gap between the highest price a buyer is currently bidding and the lowest price a seller is currently asking.

A narrow spread usually reflects active trading and competition among market makers. A wide spread means a larger cost to trade in and out immediately.

For options, the spread is often divided by the midpoint price. This relative spread puts cheap and expensive contracts on a common scale.

Related Terms: Premium, Options Chain, Open Interest, OI.

See Option Bid-Ask Spread.

Bollinger Bands

Bollinger Bands are lines drawn above and below a moving average of price, a chosen number of standard deviations away.

The common setting is a 20-session simple moving average with bands two standard deviations above and below it. The bands widen when recent prices are more variable and narrow when they are calmer. A narrow stretch is often called a squeeze.

A close near or outside a band describes where price sits within its recent range. It does not say what price will do next.

Related Terms: Simple Moving Average, SMA, Price Channels, Z-Score.

See Bollinger Bands.

Call Option

A call option is a contract that gives its holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying asset at the strike price by or at expiration.

The seller of the call takes on the obligation to sell at the strike price if the holder exercises.

Call open interest is not automatically bullish. Calls are bought and sold for speculation, hedging, income, and spreads. Open interest shows how many contracts exist, not who holds them or why.

Related Terms: Put Option, Strike Price, Open Interest, OI, Premium.

See Call Vs Put Options.

Call Wall And Put Wall

The call wall is the strike where open-interest-weighted gamma is largest among calls, summed across expiries. The put wall is the same measurement for puts.

The walls show where options gamma is most concentrated relative to the current price. Many readers watch them as areas where hedging activity may be heavy.

The walls are descriptions of open positions. They move as open interest, expiries, and prices change, and they are not price targets, support, or resistance.

Related Terms: Gamma Exposure, GEX, Gamma Flip, Gamma.

See Gamma Exposure (GEX), Call Wall, Put Wall And Gamma Flip.

Candlestick Patterns

A candlestick shows one session's open, high, low, and close. The body spans the open and close, and thin wicks reach to the high and low.

Candlestick patterns are named shapes of one to three candles, such as the doji (open and close nearly equal), the hammer (a long lower wick), and the engulfing pattern (a body that covers the previous body).

Patterns are defined by rules on those four prices. They describe what happened in the session, not what will follow.

Related Terms: Average True Range, ATR, Pivot Points.

See Candlestick Patterns.

Cash-Secured Put

A cash-secured put is a sold put option backed by enough cash to buy the shares at the strike price if the put is assigned.

The seller collects the premium up front. If the price stays above the strike through expiration, the put usually expires worthless. If the put is assigned, the seller buys the shares at the strike.

The premium as a percentage of the cash set aside is often quoted as the position's yield.

Related Terms: Put Option, Assignment, Premium, Covered Call.

See Covered Call And Cash-Secured Put Yield.

Commodity Channel Index, CCI

The commodity channel index measures how far the typical price, the average of high, low, and close, sits from its moving average, scaled by its average deviation.

Values are unbounded, but the constant in the formula places most readings between −100 and +100. Readings beyond those levels describe a price unusually far from its recent average.

Despite the name, CCI is used on stocks and ETFs as well as commodities. It describes distance from an average, not a future direction.

Related Terms: Z-Score, Relative Strength Index, RSI, Williams %R.

See CCI (Commodity Channel Index).

Contango

Contango describes a volatility term structure in which longer-dated implied volatility is higher than shorter-dated implied volatility.

It is the most common shape in calm conditions, because more time leaves more room for the price to move. It is not a guarantee of calm.

Contango and backwardation describe the shape of the volatility curve. They do not give price direction.

See IV Term Structure.

Correlation

Correlation measures how consistently two series of returns move together, on a scale from −1 to +1.

A value near +1 means the two usually rise and fall together. A value near −1 means they usually move in opposite directions. A value near 0 means little linear relationship.

Correlation describes the direction of co-movement, not its size. Two assets can be highly correlated while one moves much more than the other. Beta captures that size.

Related Terms: Beta, Relative Performance.

See Beta And Correlation Vs SPY.

Covered Call

A covered call is a sold call option on shares the seller already owns.

The seller collects the premium up front. If the price stays below the strike through expiration, the call usually expires worthless and the seller keeps the shares. If the call is assigned, the shares are sold at the strike price, so gains above the strike are given up.

The premium as a percentage of the share price is often quoted as the position's yield.

Related Terms: Call Option, Assignment, Premium, Cash-Secured Put.

See Covered Call And Cash-Secured Put Yield.

Days To Expiry, DTE

Days to expiry, or DTE, is the number of calendar days remaining before an option expires.

A 0DTE contract expires on the current trading day. A 30DTE contract has about 30 calendar days left.

DTE affects how an option behaves. Near expiry, gamma and time decay become concentrated around the current price. Longer-dated options usually carry more vega.

DTE is a time measurement. It does not provide direction.

Related Terms: Expiry, Zero Days To Expiration, 0DTE, Theta, Gamma.

Delta

Delta measures how much an option's price is expected to change for a small change in the underlying price, all else equal.

Call deltas range from 0 to 1 and put deltas from −1 to 0. A call with a delta of 0.50 would gain about 0.50 for a 1.00 rise in the underlying, other things unchanged.

Delta changes as price, time, and implied volatility change. Gamma measures how quickly delta changes with price.

Related Terms: Gamma, Theta, Vega, Moneyness.

See Delta, Vanna And Charm Exposure.

Exercise

Exercise is the holder's decision to use an option's right: to buy the underlying at the strike price with a call, or to sell it at the strike price with a put.

American-style options can be exercised on any trading day before expiration. European-style options can be exercised only at expiration. In-the-money options are usually exercised automatically at expiration.

Each exercise is matched to a seller through assignment.

Related Terms: Assignment, In The Money, ITM, Expiry.

See Options Expiration And Assignment.

Expected Move

The expected move is the size of price move that option prices imply by a given expiry, in either direction.

A standard measure is the cost of an at-the-money straddle, one call plus one put at the current price, divided by the stock price. Illustrative example: a straddle costing 5 on a 100 stock implies a move of about 5%.

The expected move is a price for movement, not a forecast of direction or a guaranteed range. Actual moves are often larger or smaller.

Related Terms: Implied Volatility, IV, At The Money, ATM, IV Crush.

See Expected Move.

Expiry

Expiry, also called expiration, is the date when an option contract ends.

Most US-listed options on stocks and ETFs expire on Fridays. Many widely traded ETFs also have expiries on other weekdays.

After expiry the contract no longer exists. In-the-money contracts are typically exercised and the rest expire worthless, so a large expiry can remove a meaningful share of open interest at once.

Related Terms: Days To Expiry, DTE, Exercise, Assignment, Open Interest, OI.

See Options Expiration And Assignment.

Exponential Moving Average, EMA

An exponential moving average is an average of recent prices that gives more weight to the newest values.

Unlike a simple moving average, an EMA does not weight every session in its window equally. Older prices fade gradually, so the EMA reacts faster to recent changes.

That faster reaction also means it responds more to short-lived noise. Both kinds of average lag the price they summarize.

See SMA Vs EMA.

Extrinsic Value

Extrinsic value is the part of an option's price above its intrinsic value. It is also called time value.

It reflects the time left before expiration and the implied volatility, which together set the chance of a larger payoff later. Out-of-the-money options consist entirely of extrinsic value.

Extrinsic value shrinks as expiration approaches and reaches zero at expiry. Theta measures that daily decline.

Related Terms: Intrinsic Value, Premium, Theta, IV Crush.

See Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Value.

Fibonacci Retracement

Fibonacci retracement levels divide the distance between a recent high and low into fixed ratios: 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, and 78.6%.

Illustrative example: after a rise from 100 to 120, the 50% retracement level is 110.

The ratios come from the Fibonacci sequence, apart from 50%, which is a convention. The levels depend entirely on which high and low are chosen. They are reference lines, not predicted turning points.

Related Terms: Pivot Points, Price Channels.

See Fibonacci Retracement Levels.

Gamma

Gamma measures how quickly an option's delta changes when the underlying price changes.

Delta describes directional sensitivity. Gamma describes how fast that sensitivity can shift.

Gamma is usually largest for options near the current price and close to expiration. Because hedgers adjust as delta changes, concentrated gamma can mean heavy hedging activity near those strikes.

Gamma does not reveal whether the price will rise or fall.

Related Terms: Delta, Gamma Exposure, GEX, Days To Expiry, DTE.

See Option Greeks.

Gamma Exposure, GEX

Gamma exposure estimates how much options hedging may need to change for a move in the underlying price, summed across the options chain and expressed in dollars.

Each contract's gamma is weighted by its open interest. Calculating a net figure requires an assumption about who holds the options, because dealer positions are not observed directly.

GEX describes the current structure of open positions. It is not a forecast of where the price will go.

Related Terms: Gamma, Call Wall And Put Wall, Gamma Flip, Open Interest, OI.

See Gamma Exposure (GEX), Call Wall, Put Wall And Gamma Flip.

Gamma Flip

The gamma flip is the underlying price at which estimated net gamma exposure changes sign.

It is found by recalculating net gamma exposure at a range of hypothetical prices around the current price and locating where it crosses zero.

Because it is built from net gamma exposure, the flip depends on the same assumption about who holds the options. It is a description of open positions, not a price target.

Related Terms: Gamma Exposure, GEX, Call Wall And Put Wall, Gamma.

See Gamma Exposure (GEX), Call Wall, Put Wall And Gamma Flip.

Golden Cross And Death Cross

A golden cross is the session when the 50-day simple moving average moves from below the 200-day simple moving average to above it. A death cross is the reverse.

Both averages lag price, so a cross usually arrives well after the price move that caused it. In sideways markets the averages can cross several times in a short period.

The crosses are widely watched conventions, not forecasts.

See 200-Day Moving Average, SMA Vs EMA, Golden Cross And Death Cross.

Ichimoku Cloud

The Ichimoku cloud is a chart system of five lines built from midpoints of recent highs and lows over different look-back periods.

The conversion line (Tenkan) and base line (Kijun) are shorter-term midpoints. Two leading spans are shifted forward on the chart, and the area between them forms the cloud. A lagging span plots the close shifted back.

Price above, below, or inside the cloud describes where it sits relative to these midpoints. It is a description, not a forecast.

Related Terms: Price Channels, Simple Moving Average, SMA.

See Ichimoku Cloud.

Implied Volatility, IV

Implied volatility is the amount of future price movement that option prices imply, quoted on a yearly scale.

It is solved backward from an option's market price with a pricing model. Higher IV means options cost more relative to the underlying, because the market is pricing bigger possible moves in either direction.

Every option has its own IV, which differs by strike and expiry. A standard single figure is 30-day at-the-money IV, or IV30.

IV does not indicate direction.

See Implied Volatility (IV) Explained.

Implied Volatility Skew

Implied volatility skew is the difference in implied volatility across strikes within the same expiry.

For stock indexes and many stocks, out-of-the-money puts usually carry higher implied volatility than equally distant calls, because demand for downside protection is persistent. The skew is often measured by comparing options with similar deltas on each side.

A steeper skew describes how options are priced relative to one another. It does not say which way the price will move.

Related Terms: Implied Volatility, IV, Out Of The Money, OTM, Delta.

See Implied Volatility Skew Explained.

In The Money, ITM

An option is in the money when exercising it now would have positive value.

A call is in the money when the underlying price is above the strike. A put is in the money when the underlying price is below the strike.

The in-the-money amount is the option's intrinsic value. Deep in-the-money options behave much like the underlying itself, with deltas close to 1 for calls or −1 for puts.

See Option Moneyness.

Intrinsic Value

Intrinsic value is the amount an option would be worth if exercised immediately.

For a call it is the underlying price minus the strike price. For a put it is the strike price minus the underlying price. Either way it is never below zero.

Illustrative example: with the stock at 105, a 100-strike call has an intrinsic value of 5. Any price above 5 is extrinsic value.

Related Terms: Extrinsic Value, In The Money, ITM, Premium.

See Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Value.

IV Crush

IV crush is a sharp fall in implied volatility after a scheduled event, such as an earnings release, has passed.

Before the event, options price in the uncertainty of the announcement. Once it is known, that uncertainty is gone and implied volatility usually drops quickly.

The drop reduces extrinsic value. An option can therefore lose value after the event even when the underlying moves, if the move is smaller than the one priced in.

Related Terms: Implied Volatility, IV, Expected Move, Vega, Extrinsic Value.

See Earnings Expected Move And IV Crush.

IV Percentile

IV percentile is the share of past sessions, within a look-back window, on which implied volatility was lower than today.

An IV percentile of 80% means today's implied volatility is higher than on 80% of the sessions in the window. Because it uses every observation, one unusual day cannot move it much.

It compares a security with its own history, not with other securities.

Related Terms: IV Rank, Implied Volatility, IV.

See IV Rank Vs IV Percentile.

IV Rank

IV rank places today's implied volatility on a scale between the lowest and highest values of a look-back window.

It is calculated as (today − lowest) ÷ (highest − lowest). An IV rank of 0% means today is the low of the period, and 100% means it is the high.

Because it depends only on the two extremes, one spike can push every later reading toward zero for months. That is why IV rank and IV percentile often disagree.

Related Terms: IV Percentile, Implied Volatility, IV.

See IV Rank Vs IV Percentile.

Max Drawdown

Max drawdown is the largest percentage fall from a peak to a later low over a chosen period.

Illustrative example: a price that rises to 120, falls to 90, and then recovers has a max drawdown of 25% for that period.

It describes the deepest loss a holder would have seen from the high point, regardless of what happened afterward. It is a historical measurement and does not limit future declines.

Related Terms: Realized Volatility, Beta, Relative Performance.

See Max Drawdown.

Max Pain

Max pain is the strike price at which the total value of all outstanding options for one expiry would be lowest if the underlying closed there at expiration.

It is calculated from open interest across every strike, by testing each strike as a hypothetical closing price.

Max pain is a summary of where open interest sits. The idea that price is drawn toward it is a popular claim, not an established rule.

Related Terms: Open Interest, OI, Expiry, Strike Price.

See Max Pain In Options.

Money Flow Index, MFI

The money flow index combines price and volume to measure buying and selling pressure on a scale of 0 to 100.

Each session's typical price, the average of high, low, and close, is multiplied by volume. Sessions where the typical price rose count as positive flow, and falls count as negative flow. MFI compares the two, commonly over 14 sessions.

It is sometimes called a volume-weighted RSI. Readings describe recent flow, not future direction.

See Money Flow Index (MFI) And Chaikin Money Flow.

Moneyness

Moneyness describes where an option's strike sits relative to the current price of the underlying.

An option can be in the money, at the money, or out of the money. Moneyness is also expressed numerically, as the strike divided by the current price or as its logarithm.

Relative measures make strikes comparable across assets with very different prices, where a fixed dollar distance would mean different things.

See Option Moneyness.

Moving Average Convergence Divergence, MACD

MACD measures the gap between two exponential moving averages of price, commonly the 12-session and 26-session EMAs.

A 9-session EMA of MACD, called the signal line, is plotted with it. The histogram shows the difference between MACD and the signal line.

MACD above zero means the shorter average is above the longer one. Crossovers describe changes in recent momentum. Like the averages it uses, MACD lags price and is not a forecast.

See MACD Explained.

On-Balance Volume, OBV

On-balance volume is a running total of volume that adds a session's volume when the close rises and subtracts it when the close falls.

The level itself depends on the starting point, so the direction and slope of the line are what matter. OBV rising alongside price describes volume confirming the move. A divergence describes volume and price moving differently.

OBV summarizes past volume. It does not forecast price.

See On-Balance Volume (OBV).

Open Interest, OI

Open interest is the number of option contracts that remain open at the end of a trading day.

It measures outstanding inventory. Volume, by contrast, counts how many contracts traded during a session. Open interest rises when new positions are opened and falls when positions are closed, exercised, or expire.

Open interest does not reveal intent. A large put position can be a hedge, a speculative bet, or part of a spread.

Related Terms: Put-Call Ratio, Max Pain, Gamma Exposure, GEX, Expiry.

See Open Interest and Volume Vs Open Interest.

Options Chain

An options chain is the list of available option contracts for one underlying asset.

Each row shows a strike price, expiration date, and call or put type, with market data such as bid, ask, last price, volume, open interest, implied volatility, and Greeks.

A chain is a snapshot at one moment. Most of Vyreon's options measurements are summaries computed across the whole chain rather than readings from one contract.

Related Terms: Strike Price, Expiry, Open Interest, OI, Bid-Ask Spread.

Options-Implied Probability

Options-implied probability is the chance of the underlying finishing above or below a price by an expiry, as derived from option prices.

It treats the market's option prices as describing a distribution of possible outcomes. The calculation is usually made under risk-neutral assumptions, which include the price of insurance, so it is not the same as a real-world probability.

It describes how options are priced, not what will happen.

Related Terms: Expected Move, Implied Volatility, IV, Delta.

See Options-Implied Probability.

Out Of The Money, OTM

An option is out of the money when exercising it now would have no value.

A call is out of the money when the underlying price is below the strike. A put is out of the money when the underlying price is above the strike.

Out-of-the-money options have no intrinsic value, so their whole price is extrinsic value. If they are still out of the money at expiration, they expire worthless.

Related Terms: In The Money, ITM, At The Money, ATM, Extrinsic Value, Moneyness.

See Option Moneyness.

Parabolic SAR

Parabolic SAR, short for stop and reverse, places a series of dots above or below price that trail it during a trend.

The dots move closer to price at an accelerating rate as the trend continues, controlled by an acceleration factor. When price crosses the dots, they switch to the other side.

The indicator describes the current trend state and where it would flip. It is mechanical and often flips repeatedly in sideways markets.

See Parabolic SAR.

Pivot Points

Pivot points are reference price levels calculated from the previous period's high, low, and close.

The central pivot is the average of those three prices. Support levels below it and resistance levels above it are derived from the pivot and the previous range.

The levels are arithmetic. Many traders watch them, which is the main reason they are discussed, but price has no obligation to react to them.

Related Terms: Fibonacci Retracement, Price Channels.

See Pivot Points.

Premium

The premium is the price of an option contract. The buyer pays it and the seller receives it.

The premium has two parts: intrinsic value, which is the amount the option is in the money, and extrinsic value, which reflects time and implied volatility.

US-listed equity options are usually quoted per share and cover 100 shares. Illustrative example: a quoted premium of 2.00 means 200 for one contract.

Related Terms: Intrinsic Value, Extrinsic Value, Bid-Ask Spread.

See Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Value.

Price Channels

Price channels are pairs of lines drawn above and below price to frame its recent range.

A Donchian channel uses the highest high and lowest low over a look-back period. A Keltner channel places lines a multiple of average true range around an exponential moving average. A regression channel fits a straight trend line with parallel bands.

Each describes where price sits relative to recent behavior. None predicts a breakout or reversal.

See Keltner, Donchian And Regression Channels and Bollinger Bands Vs Keltner Channels.

Put-Call Ratio

The put-call ratio divides put activity by call activity for the same underlying.

It can be calculated from volume, which reflects one session's trading, or from open interest, which reflects outstanding positions. The two versions can tell different stories.

A higher ratio means relatively more put activity. It is often read as a sentiment gauge, but puts are widely used for hedging, so a high ratio does not by itself mean traders expect a decline.

Related Terms: Put Option, Call Option, Open Interest, OI.

See Put/Call Ratio.

Put Option

A put option is a contract that gives its holder the right, but not the obligation, to sell the underlying asset at the strike price by or at expiration.

The seller of the put takes on the obligation to buy at the strike price if the holder exercises.

Put-heavy open interest does not automatically mean the market is bearish. Puts are widely used for protection, spreads, and income, and open interest does not show who holds them or why.

Related Terms: Call Option, Put-Call Ratio, Cash-Secured Put, Strike Price.

See Call Vs Put Options.

Realized Volatility

Realized volatility, also called historical volatility, measures how much price actually moved over a past period.

It is usually the standard deviation of daily returns over a window such as 20 or 30 sessions, scaled to a yearly figure so it can be compared with implied volatility.

Realized volatility describes the size of past movement, not its direction. The gap between implied and realized volatility shows how option prices compare with recent movement.

See Realized (Historical) Volatility Explained and IV Vs Realized Volatility.

Relative Performance

Relative performance compares an asset's return with a benchmark's return over the same period.

Illustrative example: if a stock returned 8% over three months while the benchmark returned 5%, its relative performance was +3 percentage points. Total return, which includes dividends, gives a fairer comparison than price change alone.

Relative performance describes the past. Leadership over one period does not carry over automatically to the next.

Related Terms: Beta, Correlation, Max Drawdown.

See Relative Performance Vs SPY.

Relative Strength Index, RSI

The relative strength index measures the balance between recent up closes and down closes on a scale of 0 to 100.

Readings near 100 mean recent closes have been mostly gains, readings near 0 mostly losses, and 50 means gains and losses have roughly matched. The standard version looks back 14 sessions with Wilder smoothing.

Levels of 70 and 30 are commonly labeled overbought and oversold. Those labels describe recent movement, not what comes next.

See RSI (Relative Strength Index), RSI Vs Stochastic and MACD Vs RSI.

Relative Volume

Relative volume compares today's trading volume with the asset's typical volume, such as its average over the previous 20 or 50 sessions.

A relative volume of 2 means twice the usual volume. A value below 1 means a quieter session than normal. Vyreon shows it as a log ratio against the 63-session median: 0 is typical, about +0.69 is double.

Unusual volume shows that more or fewer shares changed hands than usual. It does not say why, or which way the price will go.

Related Terms: On-Balance Volume, OBV, Unusual Options Activity.

See Relative Volume.

Rho

Rho measures how much an option's price is expected to change for a one-percentage-point change in interest rates, all else equal.

Calls usually have positive rho and puts negative rho, because higher rates raise the cost of holding the underlying instead of the option.

Rho is small for short-dated options and grows with time to expiration. It is usually the least watched of the main Greeks.

Related Terms: Delta, Theta, Vega.

See Option Greeks.

Simple Moving Average, SMA

A simple moving average is the plain average of the closing price over a fixed number of recent sessions, recalculated each day.

Every session in the window carries equal weight. The 50-day and 200-day SMAs are the most widely watched.

Because it averages the past, an SMA lags price. Longer windows are smoother and lag more.

See SMA Vs EMA and 200-Day Moving Average, SMA Vs EMA, Golden Cross And Death Cross.

Spot Price

Spot price is the current market price of the underlying asset.

Options measurements are usually expressed relative to spot. Moneyness, the expected move, call and put walls, and the gamma flip all describe strikes or prices in relation to it.

A level above or below spot describes relative placement. It does not predict that spot will move toward or away from it.

Related Terms: Moneyness, Strike Price, Expected Move.

Stochastic Oscillator

The stochastic oscillator shows where the latest close sits within the high-low range of a recent window, on a scale of 0 to 100.

The %K line is calculated as (close − lowest low) ÷ (highest high − lowest low), commonly over 14 sessions. The %D line is a short average of %K.

Readings above 80 and below 20 are commonly labeled overbought and oversold. They describe position within the range, not what comes next.

Related Terms: Relative Strength Index, RSI, Williams %R.

See Stochastic Oscillator And Stochastic RSI and RSI Vs Stochastic.

Strike Price

The strike price is the price fixed in an option contract at which the underlying can be bought (with a call) or sold (with a put).

Each expiry lists a range of strikes around the current price. Strike spacing differs by asset, expiry, and price level.

Where the strike sits relative to the current price determines whether the option is in, at, or out of the money.

Related Terms: Call Option, Put Option, Moneyness, Options Chain.

See Option Moneyness.

Theta

Theta measures how much an option's price is expected to fall over one day as time passes, all else equal.

It is usually quoted as a negative number for option holders. Illustrative example: a theta of −0.05 means the option would lose about 0.05 in value per day if nothing else changed.

Time decay is largest for at-the-money options and speeds up as expiration approaches.

Related Terms: Extrinsic Value, Days To Expiry, DTE, Vega, Rho.

See Option Greeks.

Unusual Options Activity

Unusual options activity describes option trading that is large compared with normal levels, such as volume well above a contract's average or above its existing open interest.

Volume larger than open interest suggests many new positions may have been opened, though it cannot confirm it until the next day's open interest is reported.

Unusual activity shows that trading was heavy. It does not show who traded, which side they took, or why.

Related Terms: Open Interest, OI, Relative Volume, Put-Call Ratio.

See Unusual Options Activity.

Vega

Vega measures how much an option's price is expected to change for a one-percentage-point change in implied volatility, all else equal.

Options with more vega are more sensitive to changes in implied volatility. Vega is usually largest for longer-dated options with strikes near the current price.

Vega does not indicate price direction. It describes sensitivity to implied-volatility changes, such as the drop in an IV crush.

Related Terms: Implied Volatility, IV, IV Crush, Theta, Gamma.

See Option Greeks.

Volatility Term Structure

The volatility term structure compares implied volatility across expiries for the same underlying.

Plotted against time to expiry, it usually slopes upward in calm conditions (contango) and can invert when near-term uncertainty is high (backwardation). Scheduled events such as earnings often create a bump at the expiry just after the event.

The term structure shows how uncertainty is priced through time. It does not predict direction.

Related Terms: Contango, Backwardation, Implied Volatility, IV, IV Crush.

See IV Term Structure.

Volume-Weighted Average Price, VWAP

The volume-weighted average price is the average price at which an asset traded over a period, weighted by the volume traded at each price.

Prices where more shares changed hands count more. VWAP is commonly calculated over a single session and is a standard benchmark for judging the price of large trades.

A close above or below VWAP describes where the session ended relative to the average traded price. It is not a forecast.

Related Terms: On-Balance Volume, OBV, Simple Moving Average, SMA.

See VWAP (Volume-Weighted Average Price).

Williams %R

Williams %R shows where the latest close sits within the high-low range of a recent window, on a scale of −100 to 0.

It is calculated as (highest high − close) ÷ (highest high − lowest low) × −100, commonly over 14 sessions. It is the stochastic oscillator's %K shifted down by 100.

Readings above −20 and below −80 are commonly labeled overbought and oversold. They describe position within the range, not what comes next.

Related Terms: Stochastic Oscillator, Relative Strength Index, RSI.

See Williams %R.

Zero Days To Expiration, 0DTE

Zero days to expiration, or 0DTE, describes options that expire on the current trading day.

Because almost no time remains, their prices respond strongly to small moves in the underlying. Gamma and time decay are at their most concentrated.

0DTE trading has grown as more products gained daily expiries. Its share of total options volume is one measure of how much activity is concentrated in the shortest-dated contracts.

Related Terms: Days To Expiry, DTE, Gamma, Theta, Expiry.

See 0DTE Options.

Z-Score

A Z-score expresses how far a value is from an average, in units of standard deviation.

A Z-score near zero means the value is close to its usual level. A Z-score of +2 means it is about two standard deviations above the average, and −2 about two below.

Comparing today's measurement with the security's own history this way puts different measurements on one scale. Market data often has heavy tails, so large Z-scores occur more often than a normal distribution would suggest.