CNX Straddle Strategy
CNX (CNX Resources Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on NYSE.
CNX Resources Corporation, an independent natural gas and midstream company, acquires, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin. The company operates in two segments, Shale and Coalbed Methane. It produces and sells pipeline quality natural gas primarily for gas wholesalers. The company owns rights to extract natural gas in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio from approximately 526,000 net Marcellus Shale acres; and approximately 610,000 net acres of Utica Shale, as well as rights to extract natural gas from other shale and shallow oil and gas positions from approximately 1,006,000 net acres in Illinois, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. It also owns rights to extract coalbed methane (CBM) in Virginia from approximately 282,000 net CBM acres in Central Appalachia, as well as 1,733,000 net CBM acres in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and New Mexico. In addition, the company designs, builds, and operates natural gas gathering systems to move gas from the wellhead to interstate pipelines or other local sales points; owns and operates approximately 2,600 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, as well as various natural gas processing facilities.
CNX (CNX Resources Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.01B, a trailing P/E of 4.07, a beta of 0.64 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 27.72-43.62, average daily share volume of 2.2M, a public-listing history dating back to 1999, approximately 458 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CNX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.64 indicates CNX has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. The trailing P/E of 4.07 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price.
What is a straddle on CNX?
A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration.
Current CNX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $36.23, ATM IV 35.20%, IV rank 42.95%, expected move 10.09%. The straddle on CNX 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 straddle structure on CNX specifically: CNX IV at 35.20% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.09% (roughly $3.66 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 CNX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CNX should anchor to the underlying notional of $36.23 per share and to the trader's directional view on CNX stock.
CNX straddle setup
The CNX straddle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CNX near $36.23, the first option leg uses a $36.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CNX 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 CNX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $36.00 | $1.75 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $36.00 | $1.43 |
CNX straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$317.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$312.20
- Breakeven(s)
- $32.83, $39.18
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit.
CNX straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on CNX. 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% | +$3,281.50 |
| $8.02 | -77.9% | +$2,480.55 |
| $16.03 | -55.8% | +$1,679.59 |
| $24.04 | -33.6% | +$878.64 |
| $32.05 | -11.5% | +$77.68 |
| $40.06 | +10.6% | +$88.27 |
| $48.07 | +32.7% | +$889.23 |
| $56.08 | +54.8% | +$1,690.18 |
| $64.09 | +76.9% | +$2,491.14 |
| $72.10 | +99.0% | +$3,292.09 |
When traders use straddle on CNX
Straddles on CNX are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy CNX straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
CNX thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CNX extends from approximately $32.57 on the downside to $39.89 on the upside. A CNX long straddle is a pure-volatility play: it profits when the underlying moves far enough from the strike in either direction to overcome the combined call plus put debit, regardless of direction. Current CNX IV rank near 42.95% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the straddle thesis on CNX should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, CNX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CNX-specific events.
CNX straddle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium); 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. CNX positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CNX alongside the broader basket even when CNX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CNX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on CNX?
- A straddle on CNX is the straddle strategy applied to CNX (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium): A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration. With CNX stock trading near $36.23, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CNX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CNX straddle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit. For the CNX straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 35.20%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$312.20 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CNX straddle?
- The breakeven for the CNX straddle priced on this page is roughly $32.83 and $39.18 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 CNX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.09%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on CNX?
- Straddles on CNX are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy CNX straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
- How does current CNX implied volatility affect this straddle?
- CNX ATM IV is at 35.20% with IV rank near 42.95%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.