GLL Covered Call Strategy
GLL (ProShares - UltraShort Gold), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Leveraged industry), listed on AMEX.
ProShares UltraShort Gold seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to two times the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance of the Bloomberg Gold SubindexSM.
GLL (ProShares - UltraShort Gold) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Leveraged, with a market capitalization of approximately $101.0M, a beta of -0.07 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 15.6-48.48, average daily share volume of 5.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 2008. These structural characteristics shape how GLL etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -0.07 indicates GLL has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a covered call on GLL?
A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income.
Current GLL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $21.26, ATM IV 46.70%, IV rank 35.82%, expected move 13.39%. The covered call on GLL 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 covered call structure on GLL specifically: GLL IV at 46.70% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a GLL covered call sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.39% (roughly $2.85 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 GLL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on GLL should anchor to the underlying notional of $21.26 per share and to the trader's directional view on GLL etf.
GLL covered call setup
The GLL covered call below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With GLL near $21.26, the first option leg uses a $22.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed GLL 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 GLL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $21.26 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $22.00 | $0.83 |
GLL covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$2,043.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $156.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$2,042.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $20.44
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.077
Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium.
GLL covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on GLL. 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% | -$2,042.50 |
| $4.71 | -77.8% | -$1,572.54 |
| $9.41 | -55.7% | -$1,102.58 |
| $14.11 | -33.6% | -$632.62 |
| $18.81 | -11.5% | -$162.66 |
| $23.51 | +10.6% | +$156.50 |
| $28.21 | +32.7% | +$156.50 |
| $32.91 | +54.8% | +$156.50 |
| $37.61 | +76.9% | +$156.50 |
| $42.31 | +99.0% | +$156.50 |
When traders use covered call on GLL
Covered calls on GLL are an income strategy run on existing GLL etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
GLL thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for GLL extends from approximately $18.41 on the downside to $24.11 on the upside. A GLL covered call collects premium on an existing long GLL position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether GLL will breach that level within the expiration window. Current GLL IV rank near 35.82% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the covered call thesis on GLL should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, GLL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to GLL-specific events.
GLL covered call 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. GLL positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move GLL alongside the broader basket even when GLL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on GLL carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical GLL earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current GLL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on GLL?
- A covered call on GLL is the covered call strategy applied to GLL (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income. With GLL etf trading near $21.26, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed GLL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are GLL covered call max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium. For the GLL covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 46.70%), the computed maximum profit is $156.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,042.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a GLL covered call?
- The breakeven for the GLL covered call priced on this page is roughly $20.44 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 GLL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.39%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a covered call on GLL?
- Covered calls on GLL are an income strategy run on existing GLL etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
- How does current GLL implied volatility affect this covered call?
- GLL ATM IV is at 46.70% with IV rank near 35.82%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.