What Is Implied Volatility?

Retail investors across the world use market metrics to decide what US stock investing move to make next. Implied volatility is one of them, and it illustrates the price movement of a security.

Some stock and options investors use implied volatility as a way to measure how much a security will move.

Understanding what implied volatility means

Implied volatility (IV) is a metric that measures a stock's price movement (up or down).

An investor can use a stock's implied volatility with other data to calculate the level at which the price may change.

An options contract's time value (the amount of time until option expiration) can also be a factor in some trading. Short-dated options have low volatility, and options with longer expiration dates have higher volatilities.

IV works alongside basic factors like supply and demand. A security's price rises as its demand increases. Conversely, when there is too much supply, the price tends to plummet. 

Implied volatility is typically higher for Middle Eastern long-dated crude oil options, especially when there's less oil with higher prices.

Implied volatility can be used for stock and options trading

In the stock market, the implied volatility is used to extrapolate future price changes, and investors usually use it to determine prices on the stock's options.

However, you should note that the implied volatility metric evaluates the options themselves, not the stocks. Options are financial vehicles used to buy or sell stocks or other instruments at a certain strike price, set to expire on a pre-specified date.

IV assists traders and investors in pinpointing an option's fair price. The option might end up bringing in profit even if the share price goes down, which helps you cover your losses.

You can calculate IV through a formula using several variables in the market and stock price. With IV and other data, an investor can calculate the degree to which the price might change. 

Still, IV does not indicate which direction the stock might go.

Why implied volatility isn't the be-all-end-all

Implied volatility should not be taken as the best indicator of price movement. IV can be highly inaccurate when options are less liquid, as this makes market prices less stable. Novice traders can make mistakes that lead to options prices all over the place in an illiquid market. If these prices are used to estimate IV, the resulting estimates will also be inaccurate.

Since options are a type of insurance, they include a price premium that provides for that insurance value. This is why you're going to find that the market's IV is embellished for options.

How to find a stock's implied volatility

The formula to find a stock's implied volatility is called the Black-Scholes Model:

C = SN (d1) – N (d2) Ke -rt

• C: Option premium

• S: Stock price

• K: Strike price

• R: Risk-free rate

• T: Time to maturity

• E: Exponential term

You can also take these inputs and easily plug them into a calculator, but it's crucial that all factors are accurate if you want a potentially viable result.