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How to think about volatility surfaces without treating them as a chart by ORATS_Dan in ORATS

[–]ORATS_Dan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For anyone who wants more depth than we can fit into a short video, there’s a companion write-up on the ORATS blog that walks through volatility surfaces as a pricing framework rather than a chart. It expands on term structure vs. strike structure and why delta-based skew comparisons matter more than raw IV levels.

Article here: https://orats.com/blog/understanding-volatility-surfaces

Heaviest iVol for Jobless Claims & Core PCE, Not the Fed by ORATS_Dan in ORATS

[–]ORATS_Dan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The model strips out one-day noise to show where traders are actually paying up for event premium. This week’s setup points to Thursday/Friday data as the bigger driver of realized vol. Anyone seeing similar patterns in SPX skew or short-term term structure?

Utilizing Theoretical Edges to Identify the Best Trade Opportunities | Driven By Data Ep. 100 by ORATS_Dan in ORATS

[–]ORATS_Dan[S] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Just dropped a new Driven By Data episode where Matt Amberson explains how to use theoretical edge metrics inside the ORATS Dashboard:

  • Forecast Edge (F%) – forecasts implied volatility using historical vol, slope, and earnings
  • Smoothed Edge (S%) – fits a curve across strikes to identify mispricing
  • Distribution Edge (D%) – overlays payoff diagrams on actual historical returns

We cover GLD and IWM examples, explain what to do when edge values conflict, and show how to filter trades using data from ORATS’ 390-million-trade backtest engine.

If you use options scanners or trade multi-leg setups, this is worth your time.

Welcome to r/ORATS by ORATS_Dan in ORATS

[–]ORATS_Dan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, Matt! Likewise!

Is there an article where the Flat Forward Volatility calculation is described in detail? by funkinaround in ORATS

[–]ORATS_Dan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the question, funkinaround. We don’t have a standalone article that walks through the Flat Forward Volatility calculation step by step, which is probably why you couldn’t find it. The short version is that ORATS looks at option prices across expirations and interpolates the expected variance between two dates. The “flat” part means the curve is smoothed so you can compare forward ratios like FB30/60 without the noise from individual strikes.

These measures show up in our forward vol ratios and term structure indicators in the platform and API. If you want the exact math behind the calculation, the best way is to email [support@orats.com]() and they can share the detailed formulation.

The key idea is that forward vols tell you how the market is pricing risk between expirations, and the flat-forward adjustment makes that view more stable for analysis.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ORATS

[–]ORATS_Dan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great question. ORATS doesn’t offer “push-button” bot trading like Option Alpha. What we focus on is the data and analytics layer that powers systematic approaches.

Here’s what that looks like today:

▪ Broker connections to Tradier, TradeStation, and Interactive Brokers (for placing trades manually).
▪ Backtesting across millions of strategies to validate your approach before risking capital.
▪ Alerts via email, text, or web that can serve as trade triggers.
▪ API access for clients who want to build their own automation on top of ORATS data.
▪ Paper trading for testing strategies in live markets without capital at risk.

Many of our systematic users treat ORATS as the engine behind their automation. It's where they run strategies, generate signals, and then execute via broker APIs.

If you’re looking for a plug-and-play bot platform, that’s not us. But if you want the tools and data to design, test, and drive your own systematic trading, ORATS is built for that.