One of the most common metrics used when trading options is the Implied Volatility Percentile.

IV Percentile is a measure of implied volatility where current implied volatility is compared to the range of implied volatilities in this past.

This comparison is made on the same stock.

For example, Facebook’s IV percentile takes the current implied volatility and compares it to the past implied volatilities Facebook has had.

This is then made into a percentage ranging from 0-100%.

A percentage of zero would depict a stock is currently at the lowest level of implied volatility it has been during the lookback period.

In contrast, an IV percentile of 100% illustrates that the stock is trading at its highest level of implied volatility.

As discussed previously, an upcoming earnings announcement can mean a stock has an elevated level of implied volatility. To get a true picture of stocks with  a high implied volatility percentile, we can use the Stock Screener.

Using The Stock Screener To Find High Volatility Stocks

Using the Stock Screener, we can set the following filters to find stocks with no upcoming earnings and a high implied volatility percentile.

• Latest Earnings Date between February 15 and April 25
• Total Options Volume greater than 20,000
• Market Cap greater than 40 billion
• IV Percentile greater than 70%

This screener gives us the following stocks ranked from highest IV Percentile to lowest:

Schlumberger (SLB)

Netflix (NFLX)

Verizon Communications (VZ)

JP Morgan Chase (JPM)

Bank of America (BAC)

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC)

Freeport-Mcmoran Inc (FCX)

Morgan Stanley (MS)

Citigroup Inc (C)

Micron Technology (MU)

Coca-Cola Company (KO)

Nike Inc (NKE)

AT&T Inc (T)

Vale S.A. ADR (VALE)

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Kinder Morgan (KMI)

Snap Inc (SNAP)

How To Use IV Percentile

As a general rule, when implied volatility percentile is high, it’s better to focus on short volatility trades such as iron condors, short straddles and strangles.

It also makes sense to compare a stocks current IV Percentile to the market in general. If all stocks are showing high IV Percentile, then there might not be much of an edge in selling volatility on a specific stock. But, if general market IV percentile is low, that could be a good time to sell overpriced volatility in some of the names above.

Checking the S&P 500 IV percentile, we can see that it is currently sitting at 90% which is also a high reading. So there likely isn’t much edge in selling volatility right now, but perhaps it’s a good time to look at going long volatility on some names with low implied volatility percentile?

Please remember that options are risky, and investors can lose 100% of their investment. This article is for education purposes only and not a trade recommendation. Remember to always do your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

*Disclaimer: On the date of publication, Steven Baster did have (either directly or indirectly) positions in some of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. Data as of after-hours, Apr 25, 2022.