FAZ Covered Call Strategy
FAZ (Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Leveraged industry), listed on AMEX.
The Direxion Daily Financial Bull and Bear 3X ETF seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 300%, or 300% of the inverse (or opposite), of the performance of the Financial Select Sector Index. There is no guarantee the funds will achieve their stated investment objective.
FAZ (Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Leveraged, with a market capitalization of approximately $128.5M, a beta of -2.39 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 34.87-56.37, average daily share volume of 852K, a public-listing history dating back to 2008. These structural characteristics shape how FAZ etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -2.39 indicates FAZ has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. FAZ pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on FAZ?
A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income.
Current FAZ snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $45.91, ATM IV 49.60%, IV rank 16.79%, expected move 14.22%. The covered call on FAZ 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 covered call structure on FAZ specifically: FAZ IV at 49.60% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling FAZ covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 14.22% (roughly $6.53 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 FAZ expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FAZ should anchor to the underlying notional of $45.91 per share and to the trader's directional view on FAZ etf.
FAZ covered call setup
The FAZ covered call below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With FAZ near $45.91, the first option leg uses a $48.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FAZ 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 FAZ shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $45.91 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $48.00 | $1.85 |
FAZ covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$4,406.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $394.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$4,405.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $44.06
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.089
Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium.
FAZ covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on FAZ. 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% | -$4,405.00 |
| $10.16 | -77.9% | -$3,390.02 |
| $20.31 | -55.8% | -$2,375.03 |
| $30.46 | -33.7% | -$1,360.05 |
| $40.61 | -11.5% | -$345.06 |
| $50.76 | +10.6% | +$394.00 |
| $60.91 | +32.7% | +$394.00 |
| $71.06 | +54.8% | +$394.00 |
| $81.21 | +76.9% | +$394.00 |
| $91.36 | +99.0% | +$394.00 |
When traders use covered call on FAZ
Covered calls on FAZ are an income strategy run on existing FAZ etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
FAZ thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FAZ extends from approximately $39.38 on the downside to $52.44 on the upside. A FAZ covered call collects premium on an existing long FAZ position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether FAZ will breach that level within the expiration window. Current FAZ IV rank near 16.79% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on FAZ at 49.60%. As a Financial Services name, FAZ options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FAZ-specific events.
FAZ covered call positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; 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. FAZ positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FAZ alongside the broader basket even when FAZ-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on FAZ carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical FAZ earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current FAZ chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on FAZ?
- A covered call on FAZ is the covered call strategy applied to FAZ (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income. With FAZ etf trading near $45.91, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FAZ chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are FAZ covered call max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium. For the FAZ covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 49.60%), the computed maximum profit is $394.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$4,405.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a FAZ covered call?
- The breakeven for the FAZ covered call priced on this page is roughly $44.06 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 FAZ market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.22%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a covered call on FAZ?
- Covered calls on FAZ are an income strategy run on existing FAZ etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
- How does current FAZ implied volatility affect this covered call?
- FAZ ATM IV is at 49.60% with IV rank near 16.79%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.