FDT Cash-Secured Put Strategy

FDT (First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on NASDAQ.

The First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund is an exchange-traded fund whose investment objective is to generally replicate the total return (price and yield) of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Developed Markets Ex-US Index, prior to accounting for its own fees and expenses.

FDT (First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $918.3M, a beta of 1.10 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 71.94-101.32, average daily share volume of 124K, a public-listing history dating back to 2011. These structural characteristics shape how FDT etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.10 places FDT roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. FDT pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a cash-secured put on FDT?

A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike.

FDT snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $95.47, ATM IV 18.10%, IV rank 1.59%, expected move 5.19%. The cash-secured put on FDT 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 cash-secured put structure on FDT specifically: FDT IV at 18.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling FDT cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.19% (roughly $4.95 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 FDT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FDT should anchor to the underlying notional of $95.47 per share and to the trader's directional view on FDT etf.

FDT cash-secured put setup

The FDT cash-secured put 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 FDT at $95.47 on that close, the first option leg uses a $91.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FDT 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 FDT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Sell 1Put$91.00$0.37

FDT cash-secured put risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
+$37.00
Max Profit (per contract)
$37.00
Max Loss (per contract)
-$9,062.00
Breakeven(s)
$90.71
Risk / Reward Ratio
0.004

Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.

FDT cash-secured put payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on FDT. 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.

FDT cash-secured put profit and loss curve at expiration with breakevens and current spot markedFDT cash-secured put payoff at expiration-$8000-$6000-$4000-$2000$0$50$100$150Underlying Price ($)P&L at Expiration ($)BE $90.71Spot $95.47
P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.
Underlying Price% From SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-100.0%-$9,062.00
$21.12-77.9%-$6,951.22
$42.23-55.8%-$4,840.43
$63.33-33.7%-$2,729.65
$84.44-11.6%-$618.86
$105.55+10.6%+$37.00
$126.66+32.7%+$37.00
$147.76+54.8%+$37.00
$168.87+76.9%+$37.00
$189.98+99.0%+$37.00

When traders use cash-secured put on FDT

Cash-secured puts on FDT earn premium while a trader waits to acquire FDT etf at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning FDT.

FDT thesis for this cash-secured put

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FDT extends from approximately $90.52 on the downside to $100.42 on the upside. A FDT cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire FDT at the strike price; the strategy is most attractive when the trader is comfortable holding the underlying at that level and IV is rich enough to compensate for the assignment risk. Current FDT IV rank near 1.59% 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 FDT at 18.10%. As a Financial Services name, FDT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FDT-specific events.

FDT cash-secured put 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. FDT positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FDT alongside the broader basket even when FDT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on FDT carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical FDT earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current FDT chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cash-secured put on FDT?
A cash-secured put on FDT is the cash-secured put strategy applied to FDT (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike. With FDT etf at $95.47 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FDT chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are FDT cash-secured put max profit and max loss calculated?
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the FDT cash-secured put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 18.10%), the computed maximum profit is $37.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$9,062.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a FDT cash-secured put?
The breakeven for the FDT cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $90.71 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 FDT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 5.19%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a cash-secured put on FDT?
Cash-secured puts on FDT earn premium while a trader waits to acquire FDT etf at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning FDT.
How does current FDT implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
FDT ATM IV is at 18.10% with IV rank near 1.59%, 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.

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