ACES Bear Put Spread Strategy
ACES (ALPS Clean Energy ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The ALPS Clean Energy ETF, identified by the ticker ACES, aims to replicate the investment performance of its benchmark index, the CIBC Atlas Clean Energy Index (NACEX), before any fees and expenses are factored in.
ACES (ALPS Clean Energy ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $123.5M, a beta of 1.44 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 27.09-43, average daily share volume of 91K, a public-listing history dating back to 2018. These structural characteristics shape how ACES etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.44 indicates ACES has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. ACES pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a bear put spread on ACES?
A bear put spread buys an at-the-money put and sells an out-of-the-money put at a lower strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width.
ACES snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $32.61, ATM IV 399.90%, IV rank 79.46%, expected move 8.05%. The bear put spread on ACES below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 7-day expiry.
Why this bear put spread structure on ACES specifically: ACES IV at 399.90% is rich versus its 1-year range, which makes a premium-buying ACES bear put spread relatively expensive in absolute-cost terms, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.05% (roughly $2.62 on the underlying). The 7-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ACES expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ACES should anchor to the underlying notional of $32.61 per share and to the trader's directional view on ACES etf.
ACES bear put spread setup
The ACES bear put spread below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With ACES at $32.61 on that close, the first option leg uses a $33.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ACES chain at a 7-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 ACES shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Put | $33.00 | $0.85 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $31.00 | $0.14 |
ACES bear put spread risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$71.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $129.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$71.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $32.29
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.817
Max profit equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-put strike minus net debit.
ACES bear put spread payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the bear put spread on ACES. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | +$129.00 |
| $7.22 | -77.9% | +$129.00 |
| $14.43 | -55.8% | +$129.00 |
| $21.64 | -33.6% | +$129.00 |
| $28.85 | -11.5% | +$129.00 |
| $36.06 | +10.6% | -$71.00 |
| $43.26 | +32.7% | -$71.00 |
| $50.47 | +54.8% | -$71.00 |
| $57.68 | +76.9% | -$71.00 |
| $64.89 | +99.0% | -$71.00 |
When traders use bear put spread on ACES
Bear put spreads on ACES reduce the cost of a bearish ACES etf position by selling a lower-strike put; suited to moderate-decline theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
ACES thesis for this bear put spread
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ACES extends from approximately $29.99 on the downside to $35.23 on the upside. A ACES bear put spread caps both the risk and the reward of a bearish position; relative to an outright long put on ACES, the spread reduces the cost basis but limits the maximum profit to the strike width minus net debit. Current ACES IV rank near 79.46% sits in the upper third of its 1-year distribution, which historically reverts; this raises the bar for premium-buying structures and lowers it for premium-selling structures on ACES at 399.90%. As a Financial Services name, ACES options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ACES-specific events.
ACES bear put spread positions are structurally moderately bearish; the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. ACES positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ACES alongside the broader basket even when ACES-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a bear put spread on ACES are particularly exposed to IV-crush risk through scheduled events (earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank meetings) where IV typically contracts post-event regardless of the directional outcome. Always rebuild the position from current ACES chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a bear put spread on ACES?
- A bear put spread on ACES is the bear put spread strategy applied to ACES (etf). The strategy is structurally moderately bearish: A bear put spread buys an at-the-money put and sells an out-of-the-money put at a lower strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width. With ACES etf at $32.61 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ACES chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ACES bear put spread max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-put strike minus net debit. For the ACES bear put spread priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 399.90%), the computed maximum profit is $129.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$71.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ACES bear put spread?
- The breakeven for the ACES bear put spread priced on this page is roughly $32.29 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The ACES market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 8.05%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a bear put spread on ACES?
- Bear put spreads on ACES reduce the cost of a bearish ACES etf position by selling a lower-strike put; suited to moderate-decline theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
- How does current ACES implied volatility affect this bear put spread?
- ACES ATM IV is at 399.90% with IV rank near 79.46%, which is elevated relative to its 1-year range. Premium-selling structures (covered call, cash-secured put, iron condor) generally look more attractive when IV rank is high; premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are more expensive in that regime.