FGM Straddle Strategy
FGM (First Trust Germany AlphaDEX Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on NASDAQ.
The First Trust Germany AlphaDEX Fund is an exchange-traded fund. The investment objective of the Fund is to seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Germany Index.
FGM (First Trust Germany AlphaDEX Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $89.2M, a beta of 1.20 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 52.28-71.12, average daily share volume of 17K, a public-listing history dating back to 2012. These structural characteristics shape how FGM etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.20 places FGM roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. FGM pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on FGM?
A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration.
Current FGM snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $64.20, ATM IV 29.80%, IV rank 1.48%, expected move 8.54%. The straddle on FGM 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 98-day expiry.
Why this straddle structure on FGM specifically: FGM IV at 29.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a FGM straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.54% (roughly $5.48 on the underlying). The 98-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated FGM expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FGM should anchor to the underlying notional of $64.20 per share and to the trader's directional view on FGM etf.
FGM straddle setup
The FGM straddle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With FGM near $64.20, the first option leg uses a $64.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FGM chain at a 98-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 FGM shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $64.00 | $4.36 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $64.00 | $3.60 |
FGM straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$796.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$784.24
- Breakeven(s)
- $56.04, $71.96
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit.
FGM straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on FGM. 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% | +$5,603.00 |
| $14.20 | -77.9% | +$4,183.61 |
| $28.40 | -55.8% | +$2,764.23 |
| $42.59 | -33.7% | +$1,344.84 |
| $56.79 | -11.5% | -$74.55 |
| $70.98 | +10.6% | -$98.07 |
| $85.17 | +32.7% | +$1,321.32 |
| $99.37 | +54.8% | +$2,740.71 |
| $113.56 | +76.9% | +$4,160.10 |
| $127.75 | +99.0% | +$5,579.48 |
When traders use straddle on FGM
Straddles on FGM are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy FGM straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
FGM thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FGM extends from approximately $58.72 on the downside to $69.68 on the upside. A FGM long straddle is a pure-volatility play: it profits when the underlying moves far enough from the strike in either direction to overcome the combined call plus put debit, regardless of direction. Current FGM IV rank near 1.48% 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 FGM at 29.80%. As a Financial Services name, FGM options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FGM-specific events.
FGM straddle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium); 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. FGM positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FGM alongside the broader basket even when FGM-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current FGM chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on FGM?
- A straddle on FGM is the straddle strategy applied to FGM (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium): A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration. With FGM etf trading near $64.20, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FGM chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are FGM straddle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit. For the FGM straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 29.80%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$784.24 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a FGM straddle?
- The breakeven for the FGM straddle priced on this page is roughly $56.04 and $71.96 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 FGM market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.54%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on FGM?
- Straddles on FGM are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy FGM straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
- How does current FGM implied volatility affect this straddle?
- FGM ATM IV is at 29.80% with IV rank near 1.48%, 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.