Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF (SPXS) Expected Move
Expected move estimates the probable price range for a given period based on at-the-money options pricing. It reflects the market consensus for volatility over the selected timeframe.
Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF (SPXS) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Asset Management industry, with a market capitalization near $334.6M, listed on AMEX, carrying a beta of -2.86 to the broader market. The Fund seeks daily leveraged investment results. public since 2008-11-05.
Snapshot as of Oct 14, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $24.29
- Expected Move
- 11.3%
- Implied High
- $27.04
- Implied Low
- $21.54
- Front DTE
- 30 days
As of Oct 14, 2026, Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF (SPXS) has an expected move of 11.32%, a one-standard-deviation implied price range of roughly $21.54 to $27.04 from the current $24.29. Expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market's pricing of a ±1σ move. Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within this range under lognormal assumptions, though empirical markets have fatter tails.
SPXS Strategy Sizing to the Expected Move
With Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF pricing an expected move of 11.32% from $24.29, risk-defined strategies sized to the implied range structurally target the modal outcome distribution. Iron condors with wings at the ±1σ expected move boundaries collect premium against the ~68% probability that spot stays inside the range under lognormal assumptions; strangles set wider at ±1.5σ or ±2σ target the tails but pay smaller per-trade premium. Long-vol structures (long straddles, ratio backspreads) profit when realized move exceeds the implied move, the inverse trade: they bet against the lognormal assumption itself, capitalizing on the empirically fatter equity-return tails.
How to read the SPXS implied-range chart
The shaded range below shows the one-standard-deviation implied price band at each listed expiration, derived from ATM implied volatility scaled to days-to-expiration. The front-tenor expected move is 11.32%, anchoring an implied range of approximately $21.54 to $27.04. Under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside that band; 95% fall inside ±2σ; 99.7% inside ±3σ. The empirical equity-return distribution has fatter tails than lognormal, so true tail-outcome frequency is moderately higher than these closed-form numbers suggest.
SPXS expected move and event pricing
Expected move widens with √time: a 5% 30-day move corresponds to roughly a 2.5% 7.5-day move and a 10% 120-day move. SPXS term-structure is in contango (slope 0.009), so longer-dated tenors price in proportionally more vol than √time scaling alone would suggest - typically because long-dated cycles include uncertain macro states. With IV rank at 16.5%, the implied move is at the low end of the typical SPXS range - cheap optionality for buyers, thin premium for sellers.
Sizing SPXS structures to the expected move
Iron condors with wings at ±1σ collect the modal-outcome premium; ±1.5σ widens probability of inside-range to ~87% but cuts collected premium roughly in half. Strangles do the inverse trade - they pay against the same lognormal distribution, profiting when realized exceeds implied. Calendar spreads bet on the slope of the term structure rather than the level. SPXS put/call volume ratio currently at 1.76 indicates protective put flow dominates - look for hedged-money positioning into the move. The expected move is the inputs the chain is pricing, not a forecast - realized moves above or below are normal under any distribution.
Learn how expected move is reported and how to read the data →
Per-expiration expected move for SPXS derived from ATM implied volatility at each listed expiration. Implied high/low bounds are computed as $24.29 × (1 ± expected move %). One standard-deviation range under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside.
| Expiration | DTE | ATM IV | Expected Move | Implied High | Implied Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 16, 2026 | 2 | 46.0% | 3.4% | $25.12 | $23.46 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 9 | 38.8% | 6.1% | $25.77 | $22.81 |
| Oct 30, 2026 | 16 | 39.8% | 8.3% | $26.31 | $22.27 |
| Nov 6, 2026 | 23 | 43.8% | 11.0% | $26.96 | $21.62 |
| Nov 13, 2026 | 30 | 39.5% | 11.3% | $27.04 | $21.54 |
| Nov 20, 2026 | 37 | 40.4% | 12.9% | $27.41 | $21.17 |
| Nov 27, 2026 | 44 | 41.7% | 14.5% | $27.81 | $20.77 |
| Jan 15, 2027 | 93 | 43.5% | 22.0% | $29.62 | $18.96 |
| Apr 16, 2027 | 184 | 48.5% | 34.4% | $32.65 | $15.93 |
| Jan 21, 2028 | 464 | 60.0% | 67.6% | $40.72 | $7.86 |
| Jan 19, 2029 | 828 | 62.8% | 94.6% | $47.27 | $1.31 |
Frequently asked SPXS expected move questions
- What is the current SPXS expected move?
- As of Oct 14, 2026, Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF (SPXS) has an expected move of 11.32% over the next 30 days, implying a one-standard-deviation price range of $21.54 to $27.04 from the current $24.29. The expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market consensus for a ±1σ price move.
- What does the SPXS expected move mean for traders?
- Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within ±1 expected move and 95% within ±2 under lognormal assumptions, though equity returns have empirically fatter tails than log-normal predicts. Strategies sized to the expected move (iron condors at ±1σ, strangles at ±1.5σ) target the typical outcome distribution; strategies that profit from tail moves (long-vol structures, ratio backspreads) target the tails the lognormal model under-prices.
- How is SPXS expected move calculated?
- The expected move displayed here is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled to the chosen tenor: expected move % is approximately ATM IV times sqrt(T / 365), where T is days to expiration. An equivalent straddle-based form: the ATM straddle (call + put at the same strike) is roughly sqrt(2/pi) times spot times IV times sqrt(T/365), so the implied one-standard-deviation move is approximately 1.25 times ATM straddle divided by spot. The two formulations agree once the sqrt(2/pi) constant is reconciled.