The singular form of implied volatility per underlying

Discussion in 'Options' started by AlmostGotIt, Dec 23, 2009.

  1. It is my understanding that every option in a chain has its own unique implied volatility, so where does the singular form of implied volatility per underlying come from? I see it most often when I am charting implied volatility versus historical volatility, and things like that. I was thinking it might represent something like the front month atm option's iv, or an average of several strikes' iv, but nothing seems to line up. Can anyone shed some light on this?
     
  2. It's whatever you're charting...
     
  3. MTE

    MTE

    It depends on the source of the data, but usually it's a VIX-style index calculation or something along those lines. If you really want to know the exact calculation then you should ask the source.