Historical Volatility (HV)

Historical volatility (HV) is a statistical indicator of how widely returns for a certain securities or market index have varied over time. In most cases, this metric is produced by calculating the average departure from the price of a financial instrument during the specified time frame. The most popular, though not exclusive, method for figuring out historical volatility is by using standard deviation. Generally speaking, a security is riskier the higher its historical volatility value. Given that risk might go either way—bullish or bearish—that outcome is not necessarily undesirable.