When put/call skew shifts ahead of a known event
A practical way to describe skew changes in a trade-context memo without pretending certainty.
Known events — earnings, central-bank decisions, index reconstitutions — often reprice skew before the headline. In a Trade Context Review we describe that shift in plain language: which side of the distribution got more expensive, and whether flow confirmed the move.
Language we prefer
We say “call skew steepened into the print” or “puts remain bid relative to last week’s surface,” then cite the strikes we watched. We avoid claiming the market “knows” an outcome.
Ambiguity belongs in the memo
If flow is mixed — heavy put buying alongside call spreads higher up — the memo says so. Ambiguity is information. Clients tell us that honest uncertainty is more useful than a forced narrative.
For a single-name walkthrough ahead of your next event, ask for a Trade Context Review.