YXI Covered Call Strategy
YXI (ProShares - Short FTSE China 50), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Leveraged industry), listed on AMEX.
ProShares Short FTSE China 50 seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to the inverse (-1x) of the daily performance of the FTSE China 50 Index.
YXI (ProShares - Short FTSE China 50) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Leveraged, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.8M, a beta of -0.36 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 18.86-23.28, average daily share volume of 7K, a public-listing history dating back to 2010. These structural characteristics shape how YXI etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -0.36 indicates YXI has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. YXI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on YXI?
A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income.
Current YXI snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $21.56, ATM IV 57.40%, IV rank 9.12%, expected move 16.46%. The covered call on YXI 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 covered call structure on YXI specifically: YXI IV at 57.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling YXI covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 16.46% (roughly $3.55 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 YXI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on YXI should anchor to the underlying notional of $21.56 per share and to the trader's directional view on YXI etf.
YXI covered call setup
The YXI covered call below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With YXI near $21.56, the first option leg uses a $23.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed YXI 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 YXI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $21.56 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $23.00 | $0.97 |
YXI covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$2,059.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $241.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$2,058.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $20.59
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.117
Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium.
YXI covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on YXI. 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% | -$2,058.00 |
| $4.78 | -77.8% | -$1,581.41 |
| $9.54 | -55.7% | -$1,104.81 |
| $14.31 | -33.6% | -$628.22 |
| $19.07 | -11.5% | -$151.63 |
| $23.84 | +10.6% | +$241.00 |
| $28.61 | +32.7% | +$241.00 |
| $33.37 | +54.8% | +$241.00 |
| $38.14 | +76.9% | +$241.00 |
| $42.90 | +99.0% | +$241.00 |
When traders use covered call on YXI
Covered calls on YXI are an income strategy run on existing YXI etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
YXI thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for YXI extends from approximately $18.01 on the downside to $25.11 on the upside. A YXI covered call collects premium on an existing long YXI position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether YXI will breach that level within the expiration window. Current YXI IV rank near 9.12% 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 YXI at 57.40%. As a Financial Services name, YXI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to YXI-specific events.
YXI covered call positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; 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. YXI positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move YXI alongside the broader basket even when YXI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on YXI carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical YXI earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current YXI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on YXI?
- A covered call on YXI is the covered call strategy applied to YXI (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income. With YXI etf trading near $21.56, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed YXI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are YXI covered call max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium. For the YXI covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 57.40%), the computed maximum profit is $241.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,058.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a YXI covered call?
- The breakeven for the YXI covered call priced on this page is roughly $20.59 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 YXI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 16.46%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a covered call on YXI?
- Covered calls on YXI are an income strategy run on existing YXI etf positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
- How does current YXI implied volatility affect this covered call?
- YXI ATM IV is at 57.40% with IV rank near 9.12%, 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.