Journal
Field notes
Short explainers on implied volatility — the glossary layer trading terminals skip.
Top 10 Volatility Data Sources, Ranked
Where to actually get IV, skew, and term-structure data — ranked by depth and cost.
Rehearse Vol Trades on Stock Picks First
A simple paper loop for crush and long-vol earnings ideas.
Reading the Volatility Surface in 60 Seconds
Term structure tells you the market's calendar of fear. Skew tells you where it's concentrated.
Micron IV Crush After a Mega-Guide Print
Wed Sep 30 AMC: how a $50B±1 / $31±1 guide frame changes the crush conversation.
IV Rank vs. IV Percentile: Which One Should You Trust?
They disagree more often than you think — here's when each one lies.
7 IV Rank Screeners That Find the Premium
The scanners that surface the names where option sellers have the edge.
5 Options Analytics Tools Retail Traders Can Actually Use
The pro-grade tools with retail-friendly pricing — ranked.
VIX Near 15 and the Single-Name Vol Surface
Index sleepiness does not flatten earnings term structure — reading the split into this week's strip.
Semi Skew Patterns into Earnings Prints
Put hedges vs upside guide chasing — what the wings often reveal.
Flagging Earnings IV on Your Watchlist
The pre-print scan that finds the richest premium — and the names where the event is already priced out.
Earnings IV Crush: What It Is — and What It Isn't
Why front-month IV collapses after the print, how large the drop typically is by sector, and how to stop buying weeklies into a known crush.
Reading the Vol Surface in 60 Seconds
Term structure, skew, and smile — the three-axis read that takes one minute.
After Witching: Event Variance Takes the Microphone
Thinner index gamma post-expiry puts the week's earnings cluster in focus.
What Elevated VIX Term Structure Actually Says
The curve is pricing a specific fear — reading the shape, not the level.
Term Structure: Nike Thursday vs Micron Wednesday
Two catalysts, two session types — a side-by-side term-structure checklist.
Expected Move vs. Realized Move: The Only Earnings Vol Scoreboard
How to back out the options-implied move, compare it to what actually printed, and decide whether premium was rich or cheap.
Micron's Historical IV Crush: What the Stats Say
Post-earnings vol collapse is MU's signature — the realized numbers from the last 8 prints.
When MOVE Speaks Louder Than VIX
Rates vol elevated, equity vol calm — implications for pricing earnings week.
Reading Skew Into Jobs Friday
The smile tells you where the market is actually scared — and it's not where the headline says.
Rich vs Cheap: An IV Rank Checklist Before the Bell
Five filters before you label a name elevated ahead of earnings.
Leisure IV into Carnival's Tuesday Print
Why travel names sometimes refuse a clean crush.
IV Rank Regimes: Where We Are in the Cycle
VIX term structure + SPX IV rank context for the current quarter — the vol regime read.
Night-Before Expected Move: A Working Definition
Straddle-based expected move as a planning tool, not a forecast.
Micron's IV Term Structure Before Wednesday
Front-week IV is elevated vs. the back — the classic pre-earnings vol shape, dissected.