Live VIX Charts
S&P 500 Options — Expected Move, Skew & Positioning Levels
What the S&P 500 option chain priced at the last close — the options-implied expected move, at-the-money volatility by maturity, 25-delta skew, peak open-interest strikes, the share of volume trading in same-day expiries, and an indicative per-strike gamma profile.
S&P 500 Options — Expected Move, Skew & Positioning Levels
What the S&P 500 option chain priced at the last close — the options-implied expected move, at-the-money volatility by maturity, 25-delta skew, peak open-interest strikes, the share of volume trading in same-day expiries, and an indicative per-strike gamma profile.
Chain captured at the close of the 2026-07-27 session, with the index at 7,413.18.
Assumed dealer gamma by strike (thousands)
Each contract's gamma against its open interest, summed per strike across expiries inside 35 days. Calls are signed positive and puts negative, which assumes market makers are long calls and short puts — that side is not observable in public data, so this is indicative only.
At-the-money implied volatility by maturity
The volatility surface's own term structure, read from the live chain. Distinct from the constant-maturity index curve on the Term Structure tab — the two are different objects and should not be compared directly.
25-delta skew by maturity
How much more a 25-delta put costs than the matching call, in volatility points. A wider gap means the market is paying up for downside cover.
| Maturity | Skew (vol pts) | Put IV | Call IV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1w2026-08-03 · 7d | 4.84 | 18.56% | 13.72% |
| 1m2026-08-26 · 30d | 6.11 | 18.53% | 12.42% |
| 3m2026-10-30 · 95d | 6.76 | 19.69% | 12.93% |
Peak open-interest strikes
Where the most contracts are outstanding near the index. A reference point, not support, resistance, a barrier or a target. The aggregate pair is dominated by standing monthly interest and barely moves; the front-expiry pair is where positioning actually turns over.
One-month skew and expected move over time
How the cost of downside protection and the size of the implied range have moved from session to session.
Source: Cboe delayed option quotes. The expected move is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled by the square root of calendar time to expiry — the chain carries greeks and implied volatility, not contract prices, so it is not read from a straddle. Nothing on this tab is a forecast or a recommendation.
About this page
The Live VIX Charts page tracks the Cboe Volatility Index and the wider volatility complex across nine views — level and regime, the futures term structure, skew and vol-of-vol, realized volatility and the variance risk premium, cross-asset and global volatility, cross-asset risk-on/off, positioning, and a quant lab of regime dynamics.
The detailed charts rebuild once every trading day after the US close from free public sources (Cboe, FRED, CFTC and market data). The headline strip above refreshes on roughly a 15-minute delay during market hours. Weekly series such as CFTC positioning update on their own cadence, and any delayed or proxy series is clearly labeled — no value is ever fabricated or presented as more current than it is.
Frequently asked questions
What is the VIX?
The VIX is the Cboe Volatility Index — the market's expectation of 30-day volatility on the S&P 500, derived from a wide strip of S&P 500 index option prices. It is quoted in annualized percentage points, so a VIX of 20 implies the options market is pricing roughly a 20% annualized move. It is often called the "fear gauge" because it tends to rise sharply when equities sell off.
What VIX level is considered high or low?
As a rough guide, a VIX below 15 reflects a calm, low-volatility regime; 15–20 is normal; 20–30 signals elevated stress; and above 30 marks acute stress or a market shock. These bands are context, not thresholds — the page also shows where the current level sits within its own historical percentile, which is usually a better read than the absolute number.
What is the VIX term structure and what does contango mean?
The VIX term structure is the curve of expected volatility across horizons, built from VIX futures and constant-maturity tenor indices. In calm markets the curve is upward-sloping (contango) — longer-dated volatility trades above spot. When near-term fear spikes, the front of the curve can invert above the back (backwardation), a classic stress signal. The VIX/VIX3M ratio below 1 is a simple contango read.
What is the variance risk premium?
The variance risk premium (VRP) is the gap between implied volatility (what options price in, e.g. the VIX) and the volatility the market subsequently realizes. It is usually positive — implied tends to sit above realized because investors pay a premium for protection — and it compresses or turns negative around shocks. The page shows the IV−RV spread and its term structure.
How often does this page update?
The deep charts rebuild once every trading day before the US open, carrying the previous session's completed data, from free public sources (Cboe, FRED, CFTC and market data). The option-chain figures on the Options & Levels tab are captured after the previous close, so they describe a settled book. A small headline strip — VIX level, one-day change, the VIX/VIX3M sign and VVIX — refreshes on roughly a 15-minute delay during market hours. Weekly series such as CFTC positioning and some survey sentiment update on their own cadence, and any delayed or proxy series is labeled as such.
What is the options-implied expected move?
It is the size of move the options market is pricing between now and a given expiry, calculated from at-the-money implied volatility scaled by the square root of the time remaining. A ±0.9% expected move to Tuesday's expiry means options are priced for a move of roughly that size in either direction. It is a market-implied range, not a forecast, and because it uses calendar time a Friday reading of a Monday expiry covers the whole weekend rather than a single trading day.
What is 25-delta skew?
Skew measures how much more expensive downside protection is than the equivalent upside. It compares the implied volatility of a put and a call that are roughly equally far out of the money — each with a delta near 0.25 — and reports the gap in volatility points. A wider gap means the market is paying up for downside cover. This is read from the live option chain, which makes it distinct from the published index-level skew measure and from the constant-maturity volatility curve.
What are the peak open-interest strikes, and is the gamma figure real?
The peak open-interest strikes are simply where the largest number of option contracts are outstanding near the current index level. They are a reference point, not support, resistance, a barrier or a target. The gamma profile is explicitly indicative: it aggregates each contract's gamma against its open interest and assumes market makers are long calls and short puts. That assumption cannot be verified from public data — nobody publishes who is on which side of each trade — so the figure is labeled as assumed everywhere it appears.
Is the data real-time?
No. Everything on this page comes from free, delayed or end-of-day public data — there is no paid real-time feed. The headline strip is roughly 15 minutes delayed, and the detailed charts are rebuilt daily. Where a precise metric is not freely available, the page shows a clearly-labeled proxy series rather than a fabricated value.
Volatility data from free public sources — Cboe (VIX and volatility indices, VIX futures), FRED (index closes and financial-conditions series), CFTC (VIX futures positioning) and ICE (bond volatility). The headline strip is roughly 15 minutes delayed; deep charts rebuild daily after the US close. Not investment advice.
