VolRadar

VolRadar is a daily options analytics platform designed specifically for premium sellers — traders who run strategies like iron condors, credit spreads, cash-secured puts, and the wheel on S&P 500 names. The platform solves the fundamental challenge of knowing which stocks to sell premium on and which to avoid, every single trading day. After the US market close, VolRadar pulls end-of-day options data from ORATS, runs it through proprietary models, and ships a pre-market brief. By the time you sit down with coffee, you already know which tickers are worth selling and which to skip. The core value proposition is time efficiency: your morning research takes 30 seconds instead of 55 minutes. VolRadar scans 500+ US stocks and major ETFs, ranking them by volatility edge. The platform outputs a Weather Score (0-100 composite), IV Rank, Volatility Risk Premium (VRP), computed strikes, and earnings-crush data. It is powered by institutional-grade data from ORATS, CBOE, and S&P 500. The product is aimed at retail and semi-professional options traders who want systematic, data-driven trade selection without manual screening. VolRadar offers a free tier with basic functionality and a Starter tier at $19 per month for full access.

Weather Score

The Weather Score is a composite index from 0 to 100 that tells you if today is a good day to sell premium. It combines five factors: Premium Edge, VIX level, Volatility Trend, Earnings Safety, and Term Structure. A score of 65 or above indicates favorable conditions for selling premium broadly. Scores between 40 and 64 mean selective trading is appropriate. Below 40 signals defensive positioning. The Weather Score provides a macro climate assessment based on the entire S&P 500 universe, updated daily after the close. This single number replaces hours of market analysis and gives you an immediate green, yellow, or red light for premium selling.

IV Rank and VRP Analysis

VolRadar calculates IV Rank using a 252-day lookback on 30-day at-the-money implied volatility. This tells you where current IV sits relative to its historical range. The platform also computes VRP (Volatility Risk Premium), which is 30-day IV minus 20-day realized volatility. Positive VRP indicates options are overpriced relative to recent realized moves — the sweet spot for sellers. These two metrics together let you identify tickers where premium is rich and likely to decay. The scanner surfaces stocks with positive VRP and elevated IV Rank, filtering out names where selling premium offers poor risk-reward.

Computed Strikes and Strategy Builder

For each ticker, VolRadar provides computed strikes based on either a target delta or a target credit amount. This eliminates the guesswork of strike selection. The Strategy Builder in the Starter tier pre-fills strikes for strategies like short puts, iron condors, and covered calls. Each trade idea includes P&L estimates, breakeven points, and max loss parameters. You can see up to three ranked strategies per name. This feature transforms raw volatility data into executable trade plans, reducing analysis time to seconds per ticker.

Earnings Safety and Crush Detection

VolRadar flags earnings risk for every ticker. The Earnings Safety factor is part of the Weather Score and individually assessed per stock. The platform detects earnings-crush events — the IV collapse that occurs post-earnings announcement. This allows premium sellers to avoid selling into earnings events where IV is artificially inflated and likely to drop sharply. The earnings gate acts as a risk filter, preventing traders from entering positions that look attractive on IV metrics but carry binary event risk. This feature is critical for wheel and credit spread traders who need to avoid earnings-related gap moves.

Morning Pre-Market Briefing

A trader sits down at 7 AM with coffee. Instead of scanning 500 tickers manually, they open VolRadar's pre-market brief. The Weather Score shows 87.7 — favorable. The scanner lists top candidates sorted by edge. GDDY shows an edge score of 85 with +11.4pp VRP and 98% IV Rank. The trader clicks the ticker, sees the full report with VRP, IV Rank, and earnings risk. They use the Strategy Builder to set up a short put credit spread with pre-filled strikes. Total time: 30 seconds. The trader now has a data-backed trade ready before the market opens.

Weekly Options Portfolio Construction

A premium seller managing a portfolio of 10-15 credit spreads uses VolRadar to identify new candidates each week. They filter by IV Rank above 50%, positive VRP, and no earnings in the next 14 days. The scanner outputs a ranked list of 20-30 qualifying tickers. The trader selects the top 5 by edge score, checks each ticker's term structure and earnings safety, and builds trades using computed strikes. This systematic approach ensures consistent premium collection across diversified underlyings while avoiding overpriced or risky setups.

Earnings Season Navigation

During earnings season, many stocks show inflated IV that tempts premium sellers. A trader uses VolRadar's Earnings Safety flag to exclude any ticker with earnings within 7 days. They focus on names where IV is elevated due to market conditions, not pending events. Post-earnings, the platform detects IV crush — the trader can then sell premium on stocks where IV collapsed, capturing the remaining decay. This use case prevents the common mistake of selling premium into binary events and instead capitalizes on post-event volatility normalization.

Covered Call and Wheel Strategy Optimization

A wheel strategy trader scans for stocks with high IV Rank and positive VRP to sell cash-secured puts. VolRadar's scanner shows top candidates with edge scores and IV metrics. The trader selects a stock like LLY with 80 edge score and 79.2% IV Rank. They use the Strategy Builder to set up a short put at a target delta. After assignment, they switch to covered call writing on the same stock, using the platform's covered call screener to find optimal call strikes. This systematic rotation between puts and calls maximizes premium collection across the wheel lifecycle.

What data sources does VolRadar use?

VolRadar uses end-of-day options data from ORATS, which is an institutional-grade options analytics provider. The platform also incorporates data from CBOE and S&P 500 indices. All data is pulled after the US market close, typically around 6 PM ET. The Weather Score factors include VIX data, term structure from the futures curve, and realized volatility calculations. The combination of these sources ensures accurate, reliable inputs for all models and outputs.

How often is the data updated?

Data is updated daily after the US market close, approximately 6 PM Eastern Time. The pre-market brief is available by the time traders sit down the next morning. The Weather Score, scanner, and all ticker reports reflect the most recent end-of-day data. There is no intraday updating — VolRadar is designed for end-of-day analysis and pre-market planning, not real-time trading. This aligns with the premium selling workflow where positions are typically entered at the open or during regular trading hours based on nightly analysis.

What is the difference between Free and Starter tiers?

The Free tier includes the Weather Score, four calculators, and a basic scanner. You can see the top 5 candidates and one full ticker report per day. The Starter tier at $19 per month unlocks the full scanner with 500+ tickers, the pre-market brief, computed strikes for all tickers, up to three ranked strategies per name, and weekly trade ideas. The Starter tier also includes earnings risk gates and the Strategy Builder with pre-filled strikes and P&L estimates. There is no credit card required for the Free tier.

What strategies does VolRadar support?

VolRadar is built for premium selling strategies: iron condors, credit spreads (put and call), cash-secured puts, covered calls, and the wheel strategy. The platform provides computed strikes for these strategies based on target delta or target credit. The scanner ranks tickers by volatility edge, which is most relevant for sellers. While the data can be used for directional strategies or long premium, the core analytics and trade ideas are optimized for the seller's perspective. The covered call screener is a dedicated tool within the platform.