FTLS Butterfly Strategy
FTLS (First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
This fund is designed to generate significant total returns for investors over the long term. It achieves this by actively managing a portfolio of stocks, utilizing both long and short investment strategies.
FTLS (First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.45B, a beta of 0.48 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 66.7-77.52, average daily share volume of 117K, a public-listing history dating back to 2014. These structural characteristics shape how FTLS etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.48 indicates FTLS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. FTLS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on FTLS?
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.
FTLS snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $76.44, ATM IV 17.10%, IV rank 6.09%, expected move 4.90%. The butterfly on FTLS 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 FTLS specifically: FTLS IV at 17.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a FTLS butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 4.90% (roughly $3.75 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 FTLS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FTLS should anchor to the underlying notional of $76.44 per share and to the trader's directional view on FTLS etf.
FTLS butterfly setup
The FTLS 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 FTLS at $76.44 on that close, the first option leg uses a $73.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FTLS 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 FTLS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $73.00 | $3.88 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $76.00 | $2.00 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $80.00 | $0.51 |
FTLS butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$38.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $255.41
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$138.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $73.38, $78.62
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.844
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.
FTLS butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on FTLS. 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% | -$38.50 |
| $16.91 | -77.9% | -$38.50 |
| $33.81 | -55.8% | -$38.50 |
| $50.71 | -33.7% | -$38.50 |
| $67.61 | -11.6% | -$38.50 |
| $84.51 | +10.6% | -$138.50 |
| $101.41 | +32.7% | -$138.50 |
| $118.31 | +54.8% | -$138.50 |
| $135.21 | +76.9% | -$138.50 |
| $152.11 | +99.0% | -$138.50 |
When traders use butterfly on FTLS
Butterflies on FTLS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect FTLS 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.
FTLS thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FTLS extends from approximately $72.69 on the downside to $80.19 on the upside. A FTLS long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if FTLS settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current FTLS IV rank near 6.09% 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 FTLS at 17.10%. As a Financial Services name, FTLS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FTLS-specific events.
FTLS 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. FTLS positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FTLS alongside the broader basket even when FTLS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current FTLS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on FTLS?
- A butterfly on FTLS is the butterfly strategy applied to FTLS (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 FTLS etf at $76.44 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FTLS chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are FTLS 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 FTLS butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 17.10%), the computed maximum profit is $255.41 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$138.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a FTLS butterfly?
- The breakeven for the FTLS butterfly priced on this page is roughly $73.38 and $78.62 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 FTLS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.90%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on FTLS?
- Butterflies on FTLS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect FTLS 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 FTLS implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- FTLS ATM IV is at 17.10% with IV rank near 6.09%, 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.