LDI Butterfly Strategy
LDI (loanDepot, Inc.), in the Financial Services sector, (Financial - Mortgages industry), listed on NYSE.
loanDepot, Inc. is a financial services company operating within the United States' residential mortgage industry. It manages the full lifecycle of home loans, from initial origination and financing through their eventual sale and ongoing servicing. The firm offers a comprehensive suite of mortgage products, including conventional agency-conforming loans, prime jumbo mortgages, federal assistance residential loans, and home equity financing. Beyond its lending activities, loanDepot provides various ancillary services, such as proprietary title and escrow settlement solutions, real estate referral programs, and diverse consumer insurance policies, particularly for homeowners. Established in 2010, the company's primary corporate office is situated in Foothill Ranch, California.
LDI (loanDepot, Inc.) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Financial - Mortgages, with a market capitalization of approximately $402.0M, a beta of 3.05 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 1.095-5.05, average daily share volume of 1.9M, a public-listing history dating back to 2021, approximately 5K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how LDI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 3.05 indicates LDI has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a butterfly on LDI?
A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration.
Current LDI snapshot
As of June 26, 2026, spot at $1.18, ATM IV 174.99%, IV rank 38.92%, expected move 50.17%. The butterfly on LDI 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 butterfly structure on LDI specifically: LDI IV at 174.99% 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 50.17% (roughly $0.59 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 LDI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LDI should anchor to the underlying notional of $1.18 per share and to the trader's directional view on LDI stock.
LDI butterfly setup
The LDI butterfly below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With LDI near $1.18, the first option leg uses a $1.12 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LDI 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 LDI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $1.12 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $1.18 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $1.24 | N/A |
LDI butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit.
LDI butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on LDI. 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.
When traders use butterfly on LDI
Butterflies on LDI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LDI to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
LDI thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LDI extends from approximately $0.59 on the downside to $1.77 on the upside. A LDI long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if LDI settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current LDI IV rank near 38.92% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on LDI should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, LDI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LDI-specific events.
LDI butterfly positions are structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward); 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. LDI positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move LDI alongside the broader basket even when LDI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current LDI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on LDI?
- A butterfly on LDI is the butterfly strategy applied to LDI (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward): A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration. With LDI stock trading near $1.18, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LDI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are LDI butterfly max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit. For the LDI butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 174.99%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a LDI butterfly?
- The breakeven for the LDI butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 LDI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 50.17%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on LDI?
- Butterflies on LDI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LDI to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
- How does current LDI implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- LDI ATM IV is at 174.99% with IV rank near 38.92%, 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.