Trading glossary
12 pillar terms · primary-source citations · worked examples on live tickers
A working trader's reference for the metrics Tapeboard publishes. Every term is defined with a primary-source citation, a worked example on a real ticker, and a link to where the metric appears on the product. Pages refresh on the same Jan 15 / Apr 15 / Jul 15 / Oct 15 cadence as the rest of the editorial system.
Options & Volatility
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GEX
Aggregate dealer-position gamma across an option chain. Positive GEX implies dealers buy dips and sell rips (volatility-suppressive); negative GEX implies the reverse (volatility-amplifying).
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IV RANK
Range-based, not percentile-based. IV Rank uses the highest and lowest IV prints over the lookback; IV Percentile counts the share of days below current.
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GAMMA RAMP
Plot of GEX (y-axis) vs hypothetical spot prices (x-axis). The zero-crossing is the "gamma flip" level.
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Short Interest
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Squeeze score
Gate: short interest >= 15% of float (latest published FINRA settlement, split-checked). Listed common stock, price >= $1, liquid, market cap >= $25M.
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FTD
Bi-monthly SEC dataset, lag of about two weeks. Counts unsettled share volume per ticker per day.
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Short interest
FINRA short-interest reports settle bi-monthly with a publication lag of about 10 business days from the report date.
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DAYS to COVER
Higher DTC means a slower unwind. Above 5 days is a meaningful liquidity constraint on short covering; above 10 is severe.
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Utilization
Daily-published, sourced from broker-dealer stock-loan books.
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Order Flow
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RVOL
Time-of-day-aware. RVOL at 10:00 ET compares against the typical 10:00 ET cumulative volume, not the typical close-of-day total.
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DARK POOL PRINT
Dark pools are SEC-registered Alternative Trading Systems regulated under Reg ATS. Trades execute off-exchange but post to FINRA TRF in real time after execution.
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Options FLOW
OPRA is the consolidated US options price-reporting authority; every executed options trade reports to OPRA in real time.
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Filings
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FORM 4
Two-business-day filing deadline per Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act.
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Last reviewed
This glossary index is reviewed quarterly along with the rest of the editorial-system review cycle, and immediately whenever a term's methodology changes. Last reviewed: 2026-05-04. Editor: Marcus Reilly.
See methodology for the full fact-check process, data sources for the per-vendor disclosure, and corrections for the public correction log.