How are SZK 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 SZK covered call priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 15.20%), the computed maximum profit is $173.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,026.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a SZK covered call?

The breakeven for the SZK covered call priced on this page is roughly $20.27 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 SZK market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.36%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current SZK implied volatility affect this covered call?

SZK ATM IV is at 15.20% with IV rank near 0.00%, 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.

SZK Covered Call Strategy

SZK (ProShares - UltraShort Consumer Staples), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Leveraged industry), listed on AMEX.

The ProShares UltraShort Consumer Staples fund is engineered to provide daily investment outcomes, prior to any charges or costs, that reflect a magnified inverse (-2x) of the S&P Consumer Staples Select Sector Index's daily performance.

SZK (ProShares - UltraShort Consumer Staples) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Leveraged, with a market capitalization of approximately $686,951, a beta of -0.85 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 18.4-27.72, average daily share volume of 2K, a public-listing history dating back to 2007. These structural characteristics shape how SZK etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of -0.85 indicates SZK has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. SZK pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a covered call on SZK?

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.

SZK snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $20.57, ATM IV 15.20%, IV rank 0.00%, expected move 4.36%. The covered call on SZK 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 covered call structure on SZK specifically: SZK IV at 15.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling SZK covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 4.36% (roughly $0.90 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 SZK expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SZK should anchor to the underlying notional of $20.57 per share and to the trader's directional view on SZK etf.

SZK covered call setup

The SZK covered call 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 SZK at $20.57 on that close, 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 SZK 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 SZK shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 100 shares	Stock	$20.57	long
Sell 1	Call	$22.00	$0.30

SZK covered call risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$2,027.00
Max Profit (per contract): $173.00
Max Loss (per contract): -$2,026.00
Breakeven(s): $20.27
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.085

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.

SZK covered call payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on SZK. 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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	-$2,026.00
$4.56	-77.8%	-$1,571.30
$9.10	-55.7%	-$1,116.59
$13.65	-33.6%	-$661.89
$18.20	-11.5%	-$207.19
$22.75	+10.6%	+$173.00
$27.29	+32.7%	+$173.00
$31.84	+54.8%	+$173.00
$36.39	+76.9%	+$173.00
$40.93	+99.0%	+$173.00

When traders use covered call on SZK

Covered calls on SZK are an income strategy run on existing SZK etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.

SZK thesis for this covered call

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SZK extends from approximately $19.67 on the downside to $21.47 on the upside. A SZK covered call collects premium on an existing long SZK position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether SZK will breach that level within the expiration window. Current SZK IV rank near 0.00% 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 SZK at 15.20%. As a Financial Services name, SZK options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SZK-specific events.

SZK 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. SZK positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SZK alongside the broader basket even when SZK-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on SZK carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical SZK earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current SZK chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a covered call on SZK?: A covered call on SZK is the covered call strategy applied to SZK (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 SZK etf at $20.57 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SZK chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are SZK 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 SZK covered call priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 15.20%), the computed maximum profit is $173.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,026.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a SZK covered call?: The breakeven for the SZK covered call priced on this page is roughly $20.27 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 SZK market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.36%; 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 SZK?: Covered calls on SZK are an income strategy run on existing SZK 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 SZK implied volatility affect this covered call?: SZK ATM IV is at 15.20% with IV rank near 0.00%, 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.