CHAU Butterfly Strategy
CHAU (Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bull 2X ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Leveraged industry), listed on AMEX.
The Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bull 2X ETF seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the performance of the CSI 300 Index. There is no guarantee the fund will achieve its stated investment objective.
CHAU (Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bull 2X ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Leveraged, with a market capitalization of approximately $208.9M, a beta of 0.94 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 13.66-25.81, average daily share volume of 133K, a public-listing history dating back to 2015. These structural characteristics shape how CHAU etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.94 places CHAU roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. CHAU pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on CHAU?
A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration.
Current CHAU snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $23.77, ATM IV 46.80%, IV rank 62.80%, expected move 13.42%. The butterfly on CHAU below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on CHAU specifically: CHAU IV at 46.80% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.42% (roughly $3.19 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated CHAU expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CHAU should anchor to the underlying notional of $23.77 per share and to the trader's directional view on CHAU etf.
CHAU butterfly setup
The CHAU butterfly below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CHAU near $23.77, the first option leg uses a $23.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CHAU chain at a 34-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 CHAU shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $23.00 | $1.80 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $24.00 | $1.03 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $25.00 | $0.85 |
CHAU butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$60.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $29.44
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$60.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $23.60
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.491
Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit.
CHAU butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on CHAU. 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% | -$60.00 |
| $5.26 | -77.9% | -$60.00 |
| $10.52 | -55.7% | -$60.00 |
| $15.77 | -33.6% | -$60.00 |
| $21.03 | -11.5% | -$60.00 |
| $26.28 | +10.6% | -$60.00 |
| $31.54 | +32.7% | -$60.00 |
| $36.79 | +54.8% | -$60.00 |
| $42.05 | +76.9% | -$60.00 |
| $47.30 | +99.0% | -$60.00 |
When traders use butterfly on CHAU
Butterflies on CHAU are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CHAU to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
CHAU thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CHAU extends from approximately $20.58 on the downside to $26.96 on the upside. A CHAU long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CHAU settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CHAU IV rank near 62.80% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on CHAU should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, CHAU options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CHAU-specific events.
CHAU butterfly positions are structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward); 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. CHAU positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CHAU alongside the broader basket even when CHAU-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CHAU chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on CHAU?
- A butterfly on CHAU is the butterfly strategy applied to CHAU (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward): A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration. With CHAU etf trading near $23.77, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CHAU chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CHAU butterfly max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit. For the CHAU butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 46.80%), the computed maximum profit is $29.44 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$60.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CHAU butterfly?
- The breakeven for the CHAU butterfly priced on this page is roughly $23.60 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current CHAU market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.42%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on CHAU?
- Butterflies on CHAU are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CHAU to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
- How does current CHAU implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- CHAU ATM IV is at 46.80% with IV rank near 62.80%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.