What is implied volatility?

Implied volatility is indeed a measure of the market's forecasted movement in a security's price. It reflects the market's expectations of how much the price of an asset, such as a stock, will move in the future, based on the options prices derived from the market. When traders expect significant price fluctuations, implied volatility tends to be higher, and vice versa. This concept is particularly important in options trading, as it influences option pricing models, impacting both the premiums that buyers are willing to pay and the premiums sellers will accept.

Additionally, implied volatility does not represent historical data or reflect actual past performance; instead, it is a forward-looking measure, meaning it provides insight into market sentiment and potential price movement based on current information and trading activity. This distinguishes it from the other options, which either relate to past performance (historical volatility), actual gains or losses (actual change in stock price), or yield calculations (expected dividend yield).