Throughout July, the 1M IV basically stayed at only below 35% for most of the time. The last period when it maintained extremely low levels for a long stretch was in 2025 Q3, when the market was still in a bull phase; the lower bound of Skew back then was about the same as the current upper bound of Skew.

Another feature of the July options market is that the concentration of Gex drops quickly. Last month, a large number of options were concentrated in a very narrow price band, but this month clearly shows stronger “bottom-fishing” forces. At the same time, the demand for protection on every decline has become heavier in terms of its share of total executed volume.

For the past two-plus months, there has been persistent selling of Calls. In a bear market, repeatedly rolling and selling Calls is an operation that is superior in both mindset and win rate. However, over the years of observing traders who are new to options, there are two common problems: first, without the explosive upside from futures or buying options, many people find it hard to stick with it and get lured away by other potential higher-yield opportunities; second, during periods when IV rises or when prices rise, people can’t help but add to positions, breaking risk controls in position management.