FDN Butterfly Strategy
FDN (First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the securities that comprise the index. The index is designed to measure the performance of the largest and most actively traded securities issued by U.S. companies in the Internet industry. The index is a composite of its two sub-indices, the Dow Jones Internet Commerce Index and the Dow Jones Internet Services Index. It is non-diversified.
FDN (First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.28B, a beta of 1.22 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 224.47-293.67, average daily share volume of 454K, a public-listing history dating back to 2006. These structural characteristics shape how FDN etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.22 places FDN roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. FDN pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on FDN?
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.
FDN snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $291.68, ATM IV 20.30%, IV rank 26.99%, expected move 5.82%. The butterfly on FDN 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 35-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on FDN specifically: FDN IV at 20.30% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a FDN butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.82% (roughly $16.98 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated FDN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FDN should anchor to the underlying notional of $291.68 per share and to the trader's directional view on FDN etf.
FDN butterfly setup
The FDN butterfly 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 FDN at $291.68 on that close, the first option leg uses a $275.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FDN chain at a 35-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 FDN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $275.00 | $20.35 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $290.00 | $9.10 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $305.00 | $3.28 |
FDN butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$542.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $935.57
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$542.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $280.43, $299.58
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.725
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.
FDN butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on FDN. 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% | -$542.50 |
| $64.50 | -77.9% | -$542.50 |
| $128.99 | -55.8% | -$542.50 |
| $193.48 | -33.7% | -$542.50 |
| $257.97 | -11.6% | -$542.50 |
| $322.46 | +10.6% | -$542.50 |
| $386.96 | +32.7% | -$542.50 |
| $451.45 | +54.8% | -$542.50 |
| $515.94 | +76.9% | -$542.50 |
| $580.43 | +99.0% | -$542.50 |
When traders use butterfly on FDN
Butterflies on FDN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect FDN 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.
FDN thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FDN extends from approximately $274.70 on the downside to $308.66 on the upside. A FDN long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if FDN settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current FDN IV rank near 26.99% 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 FDN at 20.30%. As a Financial Services name, FDN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FDN-specific events.
FDN 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. FDN positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FDN alongside the broader basket even when FDN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current FDN chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on FDN?
- A butterfly on FDN is the butterfly strategy applied to FDN (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 FDN etf at $291.68 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FDN chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are FDN 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 FDN butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 20.30%), the computed maximum profit is $935.57 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$542.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a FDN butterfly?
- The breakeven for the FDN butterfly priced on this page is roughly $280.43 and $299.58 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 FDN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 5.82%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on FDN?
- Butterflies on FDN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect FDN 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 FDN implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- FDN ATM IV is at 20.30% with IV rank near 26.99%, 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.