UNL Butterfly Strategy
UNL (United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund LP), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The Benchmark Futures Contracts are the futures contracts on natural gas as traded on the NYMEX that are the near month contract to expire, and the contracts for the following 11 months, for a total of 12 consecutive months’ contracts, except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration.
UNL (United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund LP) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.4M, a beta of 1.28 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 6.34-9.64, average daily share volume of 102K, a public-listing history dating back to 2010. These structural characteristics shape how UNL etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.28 places UNL roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a butterfly on UNL?
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.
Current UNL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $6.50, ATM IV 26.00%, IV rank 5.73%, expected move 7.45%. The butterfly on UNL 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 butterfly structure on UNL specifically: UNL IV at 26.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a UNL butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 7.45% (roughly $0.48 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 UNL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on UNL should anchor to the underlying notional of $6.50 per share and to the trader's directional view on UNL etf.
UNL butterfly setup
The UNL butterfly below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With UNL near $6.50, the first option leg uses a $6.18 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed UNL 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 UNL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $6.18 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $6.50 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $6.83 | N/A |
UNL butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
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.
UNL butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on UNL. 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.
When traders use butterfly on UNL
Butterflies on UNL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect UNL 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.
UNL thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for UNL extends from approximately $6.02 on the downside to $6.98 on the upside. A UNL long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if UNL settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current UNL IV rank near 5.73% 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 UNL at 26.00%. As a Financial Services name, UNL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to UNL-specific events.
UNL 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. UNL positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move UNL alongside the broader basket even when UNL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current UNL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on UNL?
- A butterfly on UNL is the butterfly strategy applied to UNL (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 UNL etf trading near $6.50, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed UNL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are UNL 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 UNL butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 26.00%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a UNL butterfly?
- The breakeven for the UNL butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 UNL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.45%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on UNL?
- Butterflies on UNL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect UNL 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 UNL implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- UNL ATM IV is at 26.00% with IV rank near 5.73%, 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.