FYC Strangle Strategy
FYC (First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on NASDAQ.
The First Trust Small Cap Growth 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 Small Cap Growth Index.
FYC (First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.08B, a beta of 1.39 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 72.04-115.79, average daily share volume of 65K, a public-listing history dating back to 2011. These structural characteristics shape how FYC etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.39 indicates FYC has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. FYC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a strangle on FYC?
A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money.
Current FYC snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $111.61, ATM IV 20.70%, IV rank 1.67%, expected move 5.93%. The strangle on FYC 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 strangle structure on FYC specifically: FYC IV at 20.70% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a FYC strangle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.93% (roughly $6.62 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 FYC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FYC should anchor to the underlying notional of $111.61 per share and to the trader's directional view on FYC etf.
FYC strangle setup
The FYC strangle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With FYC near $111.61, the first option leg uses a $117.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FYC 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 FYC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $117.00 | $0.83 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $106.00 | $1.03 |
FYC strangle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$185.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$185.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $104.15, $118.85
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit.
FYC strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on FYC. 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% | +$10,414.00 |
| $24.69 | -77.9% | +$7,946.35 |
| $49.36 | -55.8% | +$5,478.70 |
| $74.04 | -33.7% | +$3,011.06 |
| $98.72 | -11.6% | +$543.41 |
| $123.39 | +10.6% | +$454.24 |
| $148.07 | +32.7% | +$2,921.89 |
| $172.75 | +54.8% | +$5,389.54 |
| $197.42 | +76.9% | +$7,857.19 |
| $222.10 | +99.0% | +$10,324.83 |
When traders use strangle on FYC
Strangles on FYC are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the FYC chain.
FYC thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FYC extends from approximately $104.99 on the downside to $118.23 on the upside. A FYC long strangle is the OTM cousin of the straddle: lower up-front cost but the underlying has to travel further past either OTM strike before the position turns profitable at expiration. Current FYC IV rank near 1.67% 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 FYC at 20.70%. As a Financial Services name, FYC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FYC-specific events.
FYC strangle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM); 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. FYC positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FYC alongside the broader basket even when FYC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current FYC chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on FYC?
- A strangle on FYC is the strangle strategy applied to FYC (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM): A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money. With FYC etf trading near $111.61, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FYC chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are FYC strangle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit. For the FYC strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 20.70%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$185.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a FYC strangle?
- The breakeven for the FYC strangle priced on this page is roughly $104.15 and $118.85 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 FYC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.93%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on FYC?
- Strangles on FYC are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the FYC chain.
- How does current FYC implied volatility affect this strangle?
- FYC ATM IV is at 20.70% with IV rank near 1.67%, 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.