USAI Butterfly Strategy
USAI (Pacer American Energy Infrastructure ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
A strategy-driven exchange traded fund (ETF) that aims to offer investors exposure to U.S. and Canadian companies that generate the majority of their cash flow from midstream energy infrastructure activities.
USAI (Pacer American Energy Infrastructure ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $111.1M, a beta of 0.42 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 36.492-48.835, average daily share volume of 13K, a public-listing history dating back to 2017. These structural characteristics shape how USAI etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.42 indicates USAI has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. USAI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on USAI?
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 USAI snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $47.30, ATM IV 32.90%, IV rank 24.60%, expected move 9.43%. The butterfly on USAI 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 USAI specifically: USAI IV at 32.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a USAI butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.43% (roughly $4.46 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 USAI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on USAI should anchor to the underlying notional of $47.30 per share and to the trader's directional view on USAI etf.
USAI butterfly setup
The USAI 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 USAI near $47.30, the first option leg uses a $45.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed USAI 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 USAI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $45.00 | $3.03 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $47.00 | $2.05 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $50.00 | $0.89 |
USAI butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$18.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $211.77
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$81.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $49.19
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 2.598
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.
USAI butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on USAI. 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% | +$18.50 |
| $10.47 | -77.9% | +$18.50 |
| $20.92 | -55.8% | +$18.50 |
| $31.38 | -33.7% | +$18.50 |
| $41.84 | -11.5% | +$18.50 |
| $52.30 | +10.6% | -$81.50 |
| $62.75 | +32.7% | -$81.50 |
| $73.21 | +54.8% | -$81.50 |
| $83.67 | +76.9% | -$81.50 |
| $94.12 | +99.0% | -$81.50 |
When traders use butterfly on USAI
Butterflies on USAI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect USAI 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.
USAI thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for USAI extends from approximately $42.84 on the downside to $51.76 on the upside. A USAI long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if USAI settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current USAI IV rank near 24.60% 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 USAI at 32.90%. As a Financial Services name, USAI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to USAI-specific events.
USAI 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. USAI positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move USAI alongside the broader basket even when USAI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current USAI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on USAI?
- A butterfly on USAI is the butterfly strategy applied to USAI (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 USAI etf trading near $47.30, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed USAI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are USAI 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 USAI butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 32.90%), the computed maximum profit is $211.77 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$81.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a USAI butterfly?
- The breakeven for the USAI butterfly priced on this page is roughly $49.19 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 USAI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.43%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on USAI?
- Butterflies on USAI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect USAI 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 USAI implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- USAI ATM IV is at 32.90% with IV rank near 24.60%, 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.