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Pro desk Quant Desk

Is vol cheap or rich — every window, every estimator?

The full quant vol cone. Realized-volatility percentile bands across every window (5/10/20/30/60/90 days) and estimator (close-to-close, Parkinson, Garman-Klass, Yang-Zhang), with the current RV overlaid and annotated with its percentile against years of history. Below it, the IV-RV spread and variance-risk-premium that tell a vol seller whether option premium is fat. Read it like the desk does: "30d RV is at the 82nd percentile of its history, and IV is 6 points over RV — options rich, sell vol."

6·Windows (5–90d)
4·Estimators (cc/park/gk/yz)
p10–p90·Percentile bands
IV − RV·Variance risk premium
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Quant Desk members only

The full vol cone surface.

The realized-vol cone, the IV-RV / variance-risk-premium timeseries, and the per-window cheap/rich verdicts are reserved for Quant Desk members.

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Quant Desk membership · $149.99/mo

Unlock the full Vol Cone & IV-RV Desk

Is vol cheap or rich vs its own history — every window and estimator?

  • Realized-vol percentile cone across 6 windows × 4 estimators
  • IV-RV spread & variance-risk-premium over time
  • Per-window cheap / fair / rich verdict chips
  • The quant cone — not a retail gauge

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What these mean

The cone vocabulary, in plain English.

A vol cone shows where today's realized vol sits within its own distribution, for each horizon. The IV-RV spread tells you whether options are pricing that vol cheaply or richly.

Plain-English
primer
CONE

Vol cone.

The percentile distribution (p10–p90) of realized vol at each window — 5/10/20/30/60/90 days — over years of history. Narrow at long windows, wide at short ones; current vol is read against it.

%ILE

Percentile today.

Where the current realized vol for a window sits within its own historical distribution. Under the 25th is calm, over the 85th is stretched. Vol tends to mean-revert from the extremes.

EST

The four estimators.

Close-to-close uses closes only; Parkinson and Garman-Klass add highs/lows; Yang-Zhang also captures overnight gaps. Each is a different lens on the same realized vol.

IV−RV

IV-RV spread.

30-day ATM implied vol minus 30-day realized vol. Positive means the market is pricing more vol than it is delivering — the classic setup where vol sellers are paid a premium.

VRP

Variance risk premium.

The compensation embedded in option prices for bearing variance risk. Persistently positive VRP is a seller's edge; a collapse toward or below zero warns that premium has gone thin.

RICH

Cheap / fair / rich.

A per-window verdict: RICH when implied runs well over realized and the percentile is high (sell vol); CHEAP when the opposite (own vol); FAIR when neither side has a clear edge.

Disclaimer. Derived from market data; represents market expectations, not forecasts or financial advice.