SDP Iron Condor Strategy
SDP (ProShares - UltraShort Utilities), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Leveraged industry), listed on AMEX.
ProShares UltraShort Utilities seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to two times the inverse (-2x) of the daily performance of the S&P Utilities Select SectorSM Index.
SDP (ProShares - UltraShort Utilities) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Leveraged, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.3M, a beta of -0.95 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 9.89-15.37, average daily share volume of 15K, a public-listing history dating back to 2007. These structural characteristics shape how SDP etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -0.95 indicates SDP has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. SDP pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a iron condor on SDP?
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 SDP snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $11.66, ATM IV 23.20%, IV rank 1.42%, expected move 6.65%. The iron condor on SDP 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 SDP specifically: SDP IV at 23.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling SDP iron condor collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 6.65% (roughly $0.78 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 SDP expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SDP should anchor to the underlying notional of $11.66 per share and to the trader's directional view on SDP etf.
SDP iron condor setup
The SDP 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 SDP near $11.66, the first option leg uses a $12.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed SDP 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 SDP shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Call | $12.00 | $0.49 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $13.00 | $0.21 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $11.00 | $0.34 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $10.00 | $0.14 |
SDP iron condor risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$48.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $48.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$52.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $10.52, $12.48
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.923
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.
SDP iron condor payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the iron condor on SDP. 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 | -99.9% | -$52.00 |
| $2.59 | -77.8% | -$52.00 |
| $5.16 | -55.7% | -$52.00 |
| $7.74 | -33.6% | -$52.00 |
| $10.32 | -11.5% | -$20.21 |
| $12.89 | +10.6% | -$41.49 |
| $15.47 | +32.7% | -$52.00 |
| $18.05 | +54.8% | -$52.00 |
| $20.63 | +76.9% | -$52.00 |
| $23.20 | +99.0% | -$52.00 |
When traders use iron condor on SDP
Iron condors on SDP are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if SDP etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
SDP thesis for this iron condor
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SDP extends from approximately $10.88 on the downside to $12.44 on the upside. A SDP iron condor is a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that pays off when SDP 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 SDP IV rank near 1.42% 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 SDP at 23.20%. As a Financial Services name, SDP options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SDP-specific events.
SDP 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. SDP positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SDP alongside the broader basket even when SDP-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a iron condor on SDP carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical SDP earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current SDP chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a iron condor on SDP?
- A iron condor on SDP is the iron condor strategy applied to SDP (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 SDP etf trading near $11.66, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SDP chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are SDP 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 SDP iron condor priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 23.20%), the computed maximum profit is $48.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$52.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a SDP iron condor?
- The breakeven for the SDP iron condor priced on this page is roughly $10.52 and $12.48 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 SDP market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 6.65%; 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 SDP?
- Iron condors on SDP are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if SDP etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
- How does current SDP implied volatility affect this iron condor?
- SDP ATM IV is at 23.20% with IV rank near 1.42%, 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.