Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF (VUSB) Expected Move

Expected move estimates the probable price range for a given period based on at-the-money options pricing. It reflects the market consensus for volatility over the selected timeframe.

Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF (VUSB) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Asset Management - Bonds industry, with a market capitalization near $8.22B, listed on CBOE, carrying a beta of 0.10 to the broader market. The fund’s investment objective is to seek to provide current income while maintaining limited price volatility. public since 2021-04-07.

Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.

Spot Price
$49.70
Expected Move
6.5%
Implied High
$52.91
Implied Low
$46.49
Front DTE
34 days

As of May 15, 2026, Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF (VUSB) has an expected move of 6.45%, a one-standard-deviation implied price range of roughly $46.49 to $52.91 from the current $49.70. Expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market's pricing of a ±1σ move. Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within this range under lognormal assumptions, though empirical markets have fatter tails.

VUSB Strategy Sizing to the Expected Move

With Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF pricing an expected move of 6.45% from $49.70, risk-defined strategies sized to the implied range structurally target the modal outcome distribution. Iron condors with wings at the ±1σ expected move boundaries collect premium against the ~68% probability that spot stays inside the range under lognormal assumptions; strangles set wider at ±1.5σ or ±2σ target the tails but pay smaller per-trade premium. Long-vol structures (long straddles, ratio backspreads) profit when realized move exceeds the implied move, the inverse trade: they bet against the lognormal assumption itself, capitalizing on the empirically fatter equity-return tails.

Learn how expected move is reported and how to read the data →

Per-expiration expected move for VUSB derived from ATM implied volatility at each listed expiration. Implied high/low bounds are computed as $49.70 × (1 ± expected move %). One standard-deviation range under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside.

ExpirationDTEATM IVExpected MoveImplied HighImplied Low
Jun 18, 20263422.5%6.9%$53.11$46.29
Jul 17, 20266320.4%8.5%$53.91$45.49
Sep 18, 202612620.6%12.1%$55.72$43.68
Dec 18, 202621721.0%16.2%$57.75$41.65

Frequently asked VUSB expected move questions

What is the current VUSB expected move?
As of May 15, 2026, Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF (VUSB) has an expected move of 6.45% over the next 34 days, implying a one-standard-deviation price range of $46.49 to $52.91 from the current $49.70. The expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market consensus for a ±1σ price move.
What does the VUSB expected move mean for traders?
Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within ±1 expected move and 95% within ±2 under lognormal assumptions, though equity returns have empirically fatter tails than log-normal predicts. Strategies sized to the expected move (iron condors at ±1σ, strangles at ±1.5σ) target the typical outcome distribution; strategies that profit from tail moves (long-vol structures, ratio backspreads) target the tails the lognormal model under-prices.
How is VUSB expected move calculated?
The expected move displayed here is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled to the chosen tenor: expected move % is approximately ATM IV times sqrt(T / 365), where T is days to expiration. An equivalent straddle-based form: the ATM straddle (call + put at the same strike) is roughly sqrt(2/pi) times spot times IV times sqrt(T/365), so the implied one-standard-deviation move is approximately 1.25 times ATM straddle divided by spot. The two formulations agree once the sqrt(2/pi) constant is reconciled.