CNX Straddle Strategy
CNX (CNX Resources Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on NYSE.
CNX Resources Corporation operates as an independent company primarily focused on natural gas and midstream activities. Its core business involves the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas properties, predominantly situated within the Appalachian Basin. The company's operations are structured into two distinct segments: Shale and Coalbed Methane. CNX is a producer and supplier of pipeline-grade natural gas, primarily serving wholesale customers. Its extensive asset portfolio includes significant natural gas extraction rights. Specifically, it holds mineral rights across: Approximately 526,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale, located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.
CNX (CNX Resources Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.28B, a trailing P/E of 5.57, a beta of 0.61 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 27.72-43.62, average daily share volume of 1.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 1999, approximately 390 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 0.61 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 5.57 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. CNX pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
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.
CNX snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $35.75, ATM IV 27.50%, IV rank 2.65%, expected move 7.88%. The straddle on CNX below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this straddle structure on CNX specifically: CNX IV at 27.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CNX straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 7.88% (roughly $2.82 on the underlying). The 35-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 $35.75 per share and to the trader's directional view on CNX stock.
CNX straddle setup
The CNX straddle below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CNX at $35.75 on that close, 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 35-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 | $1.15 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $36.00 | $1.23 |
CNX straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$237.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$230.96
- Breakeven(s)
- $33.63, $38.38
- 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% | +$3,361.50 |
| $7.91 | -77.9% | +$2,571.16 |
| $15.82 | -55.8% | +$1,780.82 |
| $23.72 | -33.6% | +$990.47 |
| $31.62 | -11.5% | +$200.13 |
| $39.53 | +10.6% | +$115.21 |
| $47.43 | +32.7% | +$905.55 |
| $55.33 | +54.8% | +$1,695.89 |
| $63.24 | +76.9% | +$2,486.23 |
| $71.14 | +99.0% | +$3,276.58 |
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 $32.93 on the downside to $38.57 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 2.65% 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 CNX at 27.50%. 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 at $35.75 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CNX chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's 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 August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.50%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$230.96 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 $33.63 and $38.38 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The CNX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 7.88%; 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 27.50% with IV rank near 2.65%, 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.