The Complete Vol Surface Workspace
Volatility Lab
Surface, term, skew, contango, VRP, vol cone, smile history and forward vol — across every tradable expiry. This is what your broker doesn't show you.
No account needed to look at it on AAPL. Live market data on every plan, and you can cancel any time.
The screen
What the module
actually shows.
A real capture, not a mockup. Click it to enlarge, then open the same screen live on AAPL.
ApexVol Terminal
Options analytics, live.
Chains, IV rank, expected move and dealer positioning for 5,500+ US stocks and ETFs.
Free on AAPL, no account. Trial: no charge if you cancel before it ends.
What is Volatility Lab?
Volatility Lab The Volatility Lab is an 8-tab analytical workspace for exploring the implied volatility surface, identifying mispricings, and tracking vol regime changes over time.
Includes mispricing detection that compares market IV to the smooth volatility model to find richest and cheapest strikes.
ApexVol Terminal
Options analytics, live.
Chains, IV rank, expected move and dealer positioning for 5,500+ US stocks and ETFs.
- Live chains and Greeks
- IV rank and percentile
- Expected move and GEX
- Screener and strategy P&L
Free on AAPL, no account. Trial: no charge if you cancel before it ends.
Inside the module
Every panel,
and its job.
What the screen opens with, part by part.
3D Volatility Surface
Interactive surface across strikes and expirations with hover detail
Mispricing Detection
IV vs model comparison identifies richest and cheapest strikes
Vol Cone
Historical realised vol percentiles for regime context
Smile History
Track how the IV curve shape evolved over 1-3 years
Why it matters
What this buys you
on the desk.
How traders read Volatility Lab when they are looking for an edge worth taking.
See the Full Vol Landscape
The 3D surface shows you the shape of volatility across strikes and expirations simultaneously. Spot term structure kinks, skew anomalies and butterfly pricing in one view.
Find Mispriced Strikes
The mispricing tab compares market IV to the smooth volatility model at every strike. Richest strikes are overpriced vol you can sell; cheapest are underpriced vol you can buy.
Gauge Vol Regime with the Cone
The vol cone plots current ATM IV against historical realised vol percentiles (10th–90th). If IV sits above the 75th percentile cone, premiums are historically elevated.
Track Smile Evolution Over Time
Smile History shows how the IV curve shape changed over the past year. Spot structural shifts in skew that signal changing institutional demand.
How it works
From a ticker
to a decision.
The order the screen expects you to work in.
-
Check the Smile
See current IV by strike for your selected expiration
-
Explore the Surface
Switch to 3D view for the full landscape across all expirations
-
Find Mispricings
The mispricing tab ranks strikes by deviation from model
-
Confirm with the Cone
Check whether current IV is historically elevated or depressed
Use cases
When you would
reach for it.
- Selling Rich Vol
- Find strikes where IV exceeds the model by 2+ points, confirm with vol cone above 75th percentile, then sell credit spreads at those strikes.
- Calendar Spread Entry
- Use the term structure view to find expirations where IV diverges, then drill into the mispricing tab to select exact strikes.
- Vol Regime Research
- The vol cone and smile history together show whether current vol levels and skew shape are unusual — key context before any vol trade.
Questions
What people ask
about this screen.
What does the mispricing tab show?
It compares market-observed IV at each strike to the smooth volatility model. Strikes trading above the model are 'rich' (candidates for selling), and those below are 'cheap' (candidates for buying).
What is the vol cone?
The vol cone plots historical realised volatility percentiles (10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) as bands. Current ATM IV is overlaid to show whether premiums are historically elevated or depressed.
How far back does smile history go?
Up to 3 years of historical smile shape data, showing how the IV curve evolved over time including skew changes, butterfly shifts and earnings effects.
Keep reading
What traders open
next to this.
Read next
Run it, do not just read it
You have read the screen.
Now run it.
Volatility Lab is one pane of the Terminal, and it opens on AAPL without an account. Every plan points the same module at the other 5,500 tickers.
Real market data, not a sandbox. Open Volatility Lab on AAPL.