GLL Iron Condor 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 iron condor on GLL?
An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes.
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 iron condor 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 iron condor structure on GLL specifically: GLL IV at 46.70% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a GLL iron condor 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 iron condor setup
The GLL iron condor 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Call | $22.00 | $0.83 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $23.00 | $0.68 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $20.00 | $0.65 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $19.00 | $0.43 |
GLL iron condor risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$37.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $37.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$62.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $19.63, $22.38
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.600
Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit.
GLL iron condor payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the iron condor 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% | -$62.50 |
| $4.71 | -77.8% | -$62.50 |
| $9.41 | -55.7% | -$62.50 |
| $14.11 | -33.6% | -$62.50 |
| $18.81 | -11.5% | -$62.50 |
| $23.51 | +10.6% | -$62.50 |
| $28.21 | +32.7% | -$62.50 |
| $32.91 | +54.8% | -$62.50 |
| $37.61 | +76.9% | -$62.50 |
| $42.31 | +99.0% | -$62.50 |
When traders use iron condor on GLL
Iron condors on GLL are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if GLL etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
GLL thesis for this iron condor
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 iron condor is a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that pays off when GLL stays inside the inner short strikes through expiration; the wing width should reflect the trader's tolerance for the maximum loss scenario where the underlying breaches an outer strike. Current GLL IV rank near 35.82% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the iron condor 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 iron condor positions are structurally neutral / range-bound; 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 iron condor 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 iron condor on GLL?
- A iron condor on GLL is the iron condor strategy applied to GLL (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / range-bound: An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes. 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 iron condor max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit. For the GLL iron condor priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 46.70%), the computed maximum profit is $37.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$62.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a GLL iron condor?
- The breakeven for the GLL iron condor priced on this page is roughly $19.63 and $22.38 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 iron condor on GLL?
- Iron condors on GLL are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if GLL etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
- How does current GLL implied volatility affect this iron condor?
- 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.