UVIX Iron Condor Strategy
UVIX (2x Long VIX Futures ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on CBOE.
The index measures the daily performance of a portfolio of long positions in first and second month VIX futures contracts. This theoretical portfolio is rolled each day to maintain a consistent time to maturity of the futures contracts. The index is calculated daily at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) and at a value calculated from the average price for the futures contracts between 3:45 p.m. (Eastern time) and 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time).
UVIX (2x Long VIX Futures ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $173.4M, a beta of -4.48 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 5.05-35.966, average daily share volume of 55.9M, a public-listing history dating back to 2022. These structural characteristics shape how UVIX etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -4.48 indicates UVIX has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a iron condor on UVIX?
An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes.
Current UVIX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $5.17, ATM IV 113.61%, IV rank 17.87%, expected move 32.57%. The iron condor on UVIX 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 28-day expiry.
Why this iron condor structure on UVIX specifically: UVIX IV at 113.61% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling UVIX iron condor collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 32.57% (roughly $1.68 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated UVIX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on UVIX should anchor to the underlying notional of $5.17 per share and to the trader's directional view on UVIX etf.
UVIX iron condor setup
The UVIX iron condor below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With UVIX near $5.17, the first option leg uses a $5.50 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed UVIX chain at a 28-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 UVIX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Call | $5.50 | $0.58 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $5.50 | $0.58 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $5.00 | $0.53 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $4.50 | $0.24 |
UVIX iron condor risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$29.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $29.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$20.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $4.71
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.439
Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit.
UVIX iron condor payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the iron condor on UVIX. 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 | -99.8% | -$20.50 |
| $1.15 | -77.7% | -$20.50 |
| $2.29 | -55.6% | -$20.50 |
| $3.44 | -33.5% | -$20.50 |
| $4.58 | -11.4% | -$12.70 |
| $5.72 | +10.6% | +$29.50 |
| $6.86 | +32.7% | +$29.50 |
| $8.00 | +54.8% | +$29.50 |
| $9.15 | +76.9% | +$29.50 |
| $10.29 | +99.0% | +$29.50 |
When traders use iron condor on UVIX
Iron condors on UVIX are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if UVIX etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
UVIX thesis for this iron condor
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for UVIX extends from approximately $3.49 on the downside to $6.85 on the upside. A UVIX iron condor is a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that pays off when UVIX stays inside the inner short strikes through expiration; the wing width should reflect the trader's tolerance for the maximum loss scenario where the underlying breaches an outer strike. Current UVIX IV rank near 17.87% 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 UVIX at 113.61%. As a Financial Services name, UVIX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to UVIX-specific events.
UVIX iron condor positions are structurally neutral / range-bound; 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. UVIX positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move UVIX alongside the broader basket even when UVIX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a iron condor on UVIX carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical UVIX earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current UVIX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a iron condor on UVIX?
- A iron condor on UVIX is the iron condor strategy applied to UVIX (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / range-bound: An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes. With UVIX etf trading near $5.17, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed UVIX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are UVIX iron condor max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit. For the UVIX iron condor priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 113.61%), the computed maximum profit is $29.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$20.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a UVIX iron condor?
- The breakeven for the UVIX iron condor priced on this page is roughly $4.71 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 UVIX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 32.57%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a iron condor on UVIX?
- Iron condors on UVIX are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if UVIX etf stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
- How does current UVIX implied volatility affect this iron condor?
- UVIX ATM IV is at 113.61% with IV rank near 17.87%, 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.