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30 years of the total put/call ratio charted against the S&P 500. When the ratio spikes, fear peaks — it has historically marked bottoms. When it collapses, complacency peaks — it has historically marked tops.
Total put/call
1.01+0.09
Jul 22, 2026
10-day average
0.93
smooths day-to-day noise
Percentile since 1995
81%
of all days were lower
Sentiment
Elevated fear
Put buying is running above its historical norm
Spikes mark fear peaks, historically near bottoms. Collapses mark complacency, historically near tops.
Stockdrifts.ioUpdated Jul 22, 2026 · daily at close
@hiteshkarThe top panel shows the S&P 500 (switchable between real price and a log scale, which sizes old and recent crashes equally). The bottom panel shows the total put/call ratio for the same day. The two move against each other at extremes: capitulation selling produces a burst of put buying (ratio spikes above ~1.1), while euphoric rallies produce one-sided call buying (ratio collapses toward ~0.6). Neither extreme times the exact day of a turn, but since 1995 nearly every major top and bottom in the index has been accompanied by one. The dotted green and red lines mark the top and bottom decile of all readings since 1995 — the zones where bottoms and tops have formed.
These are the actual peak daily readings from this dataset during every major selloff of the last 25 years:
| When | Episode | Peak daily ratio | What followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2002 | Dot-com bear market bottom | 1.36 | S&P 500 bottomed within weeks, +90% over the next 5 years |
| Oct 2008 | Global financial crisis panic | 1.52 | Final low in March 2009, then the longest bull market on record |
| Aug 2011 | Euro debt crisis / US downgrade | 1.48 | Bottom in October 2011, +25% within a year |
| Dec 2018 | Fed tightening tantrum | 1.82 | V-shaped recovery, +37% over the next 16 months |
| Mar 2020 | COVID crash | 1.83 | Bottom on March 23, fastest doubling in index history |
| Dec 2022 | Bear market low | 1.91 | Bottom within weeks, +50%+ over the next two years |
| Apr 2025 | Tariff panic | 1.23 | Market bottomed and rallied to new highs into 2026 |
The mirror image: the lowest daily readings recorded in the months before major market tops.
| When | Episode | Lowest daily ratio | What followed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2000 | Dot-com euphoria | 0.37 | S&P 500 topped in March 2000, -49% over the next 2.5 years |
| Dec 2019 | Pre-COVID melt-up | 0.63 | Topped February 2020, -34% in five weeks |
| Jun 2021 | Meme-stock / everything rally | 0.65 | Market topped January 2022, -25% bear market followed |
| Jan 2025 | Pre-tariff highs | 0.69 | Tariff selloff took the index down sharply within weeks |
The series is the total put/call ratio — all puts divided by all calls traded across equities, indexes and ETFs — using official end-of-day figures since 1995, refreshed every trading day. Nothing on this page is investment advice; it is a data visualization of public market statistics.
The put/call ratio divides the number of put options traded by the number of call options traded in a session. Puts are typically bought for protection or bearish bets, calls for bullish bets — so the ratio is a direct read on how fearful or greedy options traders are. This dashboard uses the total put/call ratio, which covers options across equities, indexes and ETFs.
The live chart on this page shows today's total put/call ratio next to 30 years of history, updated every trading day after the close. The stat cards above the chart show the latest reading, its 10-day average, and where it ranks against every session since 1995.
Readings above 1.0 mean more puts than calls traded — unusual fear. Historically, daily spikes above roughly 1.1–1.2 have clustered around major market bottoms: the ratio hit 1.36 at the 2002 dot-com bottom, 1.52 in the October 2008 panic, 1.82 in the December 2018 selloff, 1.83 in the March 2020 COVID crash and 1.91 at the December 2022 bear-market low.
There is no magic number, but since 1995 every major S&P 500 bottom has been accompanied by daily readings in the top decile of history — roughly 1.1 and above, often with panic days between 1.3 and 1.9. The dotted green line on the chart marks that historical fear-extreme zone.
A very low ratio is a contrarian bearish signal: it means traders are buying calls with abandon and almost nobody is hedging. Readings in the bottom decile of history — roughly 0.65 and below — have appeared near major tops, including 0.37 in February 2000 before the dot-com crash, 0.63 in December 2019 before the COVID crash, and 0.69 in January 2025 before the tariff selloff.
By the time fear (or complacency) reaches an extreme, most traders who wanted to position that way already have. Extreme put buying has historically appeared near bottoms, and extreme call buying near tops — the crowd tends to be most wrong at turning points.
The equity put/call ratio counts only single-stock options (retail-heavy, usually below 1.0), the index ratio counts only index options like SPX (institution-heavy hedging, usually above 1.0), and the total ratio combines everything — stocks, indexes and ETFs. This chart uses the total ratio, the broadest read on options market sentiment.
Every trading day. The official ratios are published after each session, and this page refreshes automatically once the new figure is available.
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