Volatility

HV Term Structure

By Ryan Silk & Lawrence Polatchek · Reviewed April 2026 · Options Trading Glossary

HV across different measurement windows from short to long

What is HV Term Structure?

HV Term Structure The shape of historical volatility plotted across different measurement windows (5-day through 1000-day). A normal upward-sloping structure means longer-window HV is higher. An inverted structure (short-term HV above long-term) indicates a recent spike in realized moves that hasn't been sustained historically.

Complete Definition

The shape of historical volatility plotted across different measurement windows (5-day through 1000-day). A normal upward-sloping structure means longer-window HV is higher. An inverted structure (short-term HV above long-term) indicates a recent spike in realized moves that hasn't been sustained historically.

Example

If 10-day HV is 40% but 252-day HV is only 25%, the term structure is inverted — the stock has been moving more than usual recently. This often mean-reverts.

Related Terms

Historical Volatility Hv Regime Iv Term Structure

Written by

ApexVol Research Team

Quantitative options research

All calculations use live ORATS institutional data — the same source used by professional volatility desks.

Technical reviewer

Ryan Silk, ApexVol Founder

Reviewed for technical accuracy

10+ years trading options. Built ApexVol's pricing engine, Greeks model, and IV-rank methodology.

This guide is updated as market conditions and ORATS data change. Last revised 2026-05-12. How we research →

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