OpenBB-finance/OpenBB · error · OpenBBError

Error: Not enough information to complete the operation. Lik

Error message

Error: Not enough information to complete the operation. Likely due to zero values in the IV field of the expiration.

What it means

Raised inside OptionsChainsData.skew() in the moneyness-by-date mode: after scanning each expiration for calls/puts at the target moneyness strikes and collecting rows with their IV plus ATM IV rows, either the calls or puts collection frame is still empty. The message points at zero/missing IV values as the usual cause.

Source

Thrown at openbb_platform/core/openbb_core/provider/utils/options_chains_properties.py:1755

                    "put", day, last_price, put_price_col, False
                )  # noqa:F841
                put_strike = self._get_nearest_strike(
                    "put", day, strikes["put"], put_price_col, False
                )  # noqa:F841
                _puts = data[data.dte == day].query("`option_type` == 'put'").copy()  # type: ignore
                if len(_puts) > 0:
                    put_iv = _puts[_puts.strike == put_strike][
                        ["expiration", "strike", "implied_volatility"]
                    ]
                    atm_put = _puts[_puts.strike == atm_put_strike][
                        ["expiration", "strike", "implied_volatility"]
                    ]
                    if len(atm_put) > 0:  # type: ignore
                        puts = concat([puts, put_iv])  # type: ignore
                        atm_put_iv = concat([atm_put_iv, atm_put])  # type: ignore

            if calls.empty or puts.empty:
                raise OpenBBError(
                    "Error: Not enough information to complete the operation."
                    " Likely due to zero values in the IV field of the expiration."
                )

            calls = calls.drop_duplicates(subset=["expiration"]).set_index("expiration")  # type: ignore
            atm_call_iv = atm_call_iv.drop_duplicates(subset=["expiration"]).set_index("expiration")  # type: ignore
            puts = puts.drop_duplicates(subset=["expiration"]).set_index("expiration")  # type: ignore
            atm_put_iv = atm_put_iv.drop_duplicates(subset=["expiration"]).set_index("expiration")  # type: ignore
            skew_df["Call Strike"] = calls["strike"]
            skew_df["Call IV"] = calls["implied_volatility"]
            skew_df["Call ATM IV"] = atm_call_iv["implied_volatility"]
            skew_df["Call Skew"] = skew_df["Call IV"] - skew_df["Call ATM IV"]
            skew_df["Put Strike"] = puts["strike"]
            skew_df["Put IV"] = puts["implied_volatility"]
            skew_df["Put ATM IV"] = atm_put_iv["implied_volatility"]
            skew_df["Put Skew"] = skew_df["Put IV"] - skew_df["Put ATM IV"]
            skew_df["ATM Skew"] = skew_df["Call ATM IV"] - skew_df["Put ATM IV"]
            skew_df["IV Skew"] = skew_df["Call Skew"] - skew_df["Put Skew"]

View on GitHub (pinned to 3e071fcc2c)

Solutions

Use a moneyness value closer to 100 (e.g. 100 +/- 5) so target strikes coincide with quoted IVs.
Scan a wider date window (date as a list of dte values) so more expirations contribute rows.
Switch to a provider with fuller IV surfaces (cboe for equities, deribit for crypto).
Check data quality first: (df.implied_volatility > 0).mean() per option_type for the relevant strikes.

Example fix

# before
skew_df = chains.skew(moneyness=90, date=30)  # no puts with IV at -10% strikes

# after
skew_df = chains.skew(moneyness=95, date=[7, 30, 60], underlying_price=spot)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

df = chains.dataframe[chains.dataframe.implied_volatility > 0]
per_side = df.groupby('option_type').size()
if per_side.get('call', 0) == 0 or per_side.get('put', 0) == 0:
    raise ValueError('one side has no positive IV rows; skew cannot run')

Try / catch

try:
    chains.skew(moneyness=m, date=d)
except OpenBBError as e:
    if 'Not enough information' in str(e):
        chains.skew(moneyness=100 - abs(100 - m) // 2, date=d)  # retry closer to ATM

Prevention

Keep moneyness near 100 (+/- 5) unless the surface is dense.
Screen for positive IV on both sides before running moneyness-date skew.
Prefer full-surface providers for tail-strike skew analysis.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling chains.skew(moneyness=N, date=D) where, across the scanned expirations, no call (or no put) row exists at the computed moneyness strikes with a non-zero implied_volatility, or the ATM strike rows have zero IV - so the concat collections stay empty.

Common situations: Deep-tail moneyness on short-dated expirations with sparse IV coverage; providers reporting IV=0 for illiquid strikes; holiday/after-hours snapshots with stale IV rows filtered out by the implied_volatility > 0 mask.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBB-finance/OpenBB@3e071fcc2c (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/42d6646c2334f35c. Report an issue: GitHub.