QCLN Butterfly Strategy
QCLN (First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Global industry), listed on NASDAQ.
The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to track the performance of an underlying equity benchmark. Its primary goal is to closely mirror the capital appreciation and income generated by the Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index, before accounting for the fund's own fees and expenses.
QCLN (First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Global, with a market capitalization of approximately $631.8M, a beta of 2.11 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 35.9-69.2, average daily share volume of 226K, a public-listing history dating back to 2007. These structural characteristics shape how QCLN etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 2.11 indicates QCLN has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. QCLN pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on QCLN?
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.
QCLN snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $53.40, ATM IV 34.20%, IV rank 2.46%, expected move 9.80%. The butterfly on QCLN 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 QCLN specifically: QCLN IV at 34.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a QCLN butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.80% (roughly $5.24 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 QCLN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on QCLN should anchor to the underlying notional of $53.40 per share and to the trader's directional view on QCLN etf.
QCLN butterfly setup
The QCLN 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 QCLN at $53.40 on that close, the first option leg uses a $51.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed QCLN 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 QCLN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $51.00 | $4.10 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $53.00 | $2.73 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $55.00 | $1.75 |
QCLN butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$40.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $146.33
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$40.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $51.40, $54.60
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 3.658
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.
QCLN butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on QCLN. 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% | -$40.00 |
| $11.82 | -77.9% | -$40.00 |
| $23.62 | -55.8% | -$40.00 |
| $35.43 | -33.7% | -$40.00 |
| $47.23 | -11.5% | -$40.00 |
| $59.04 | +10.6% | -$40.00 |
| $70.85 | +32.7% | -$40.00 |
| $82.65 | +54.8% | -$40.00 |
| $94.46 | +76.9% | -$40.00 |
| $106.26 | +99.0% | -$40.00 |
When traders use butterfly on QCLN
Butterflies on QCLN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect QCLN 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.
QCLN thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for QCLN extends from approximately $48.16 on the downside to $58.64 on the upside. A QCLN long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if QCLN settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current QCLN IV rank near 2.46% 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 QCLN at 34.20%. As a Financial Services name, QCLN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to QCLN-specific events.
QCLN 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. QCLN positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move QCLN alongside the broader basket even when QCLN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current QCLN chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on QCLN?
- A butterfly on QCLN is the butterfly strategy applied to QCLN (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 QCLN etf at $53.40 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed QCLN chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are QCLN 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 QCLN butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 34.20%), the computed maximum profit is $146.33 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$40.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a QCLN butterfly?
- The breakeven for the QCLN butterfly priced on this page is roughly $51.40 and $54.60 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 QCLN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 9.80%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on QCLN?
- Butterflies on QCLN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect QCLN 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 QCLN implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- QCLN ATM IV is at 34.20% with IV rank near 2.46%, 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.