USFR Butterfly Strategy
USFR (WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The fund invests at least 80% of its total assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) in the component securities of the index and investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of such component securities. The index is designed to measure the performance of floating rate public obligations of the U.S. Treasury. The fund is non-diversified.
USFR (WisdomTree Floating Rate Treasury Fund) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $17.00B, a beta of -0.02 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 50.23-50.49, average daily share volume of 5.5M, a public-listing history dating back to 2014. These structural characteristics shape how USFR etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -0.02 indicates USFR has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. USFR pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on USFR?
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 USFR snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $50.44, ATM IV 18.80%, IV rank 12.78%, expected move 5.39%. The butterfly on USFR 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 USFR specifically: USFR IV at 18.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a USFR butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.39% (roughly $2.72 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 USFR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on USFR should anchor to the underlying notional of $50.44 per share and to the trader's directional view on USFR etf.
USFR butterfly setup
The USFR 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 USFR near $50.44, the first option leg uses a $47.92 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed USFR 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 USFR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $47.92 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $50.44 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $52.96 | N/A |
USFR 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.
USFR butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on USFR. 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 USFR
Butterflies on USFR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect USFR 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.
USFR thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for USFR extends from approximately $47.72 on the downside to $53.16 on the upside. A USFR long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if USFR settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current USFR IV rank near 12.78% 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 USFR at 18.80%. As a Financial Services name, USFR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to USFR-specific events.
USFR 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. USFR positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move USFR alongside the broader basket even when USFR-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current USFR chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on USFR?
- A butterfly on USFR is the butterfly strategy applied to USFR (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 USFR etf trading near $50.44, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed USFR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are USFR 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 USFR butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 18.80%), 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 USFR butterfly?
- The breakeven for the USFR 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 USFR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.39%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on USFR?
- Butterflies on USFR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect USFR 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 USFR implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- USFR ATM IV is at 18.80% with IV rank near 12.78%, 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.