MKTX Iron Condor Strategy
MKTX (MarketAxess Holdings Inc.), in the Financial Services sector, (Financial - Capital Markets industry), listed on NASDAQ.
MarketAxess Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates an electronic trading platform for institutional investor and broker-dealer companies worldwide. It offers the access to liquidity in the U.S. investment-grade bonds, U.S. high-yield bonds, and U.S. Treasuries, as well as municipal bonds, emerging market debts, Eurobonds, and other fixed income securities. The company, through its Open Trading protocols, executes bond trades between and among institutional investor and broker-dealer clients in an all-to-all anonymous trading environment for corporate bonds. It also offers trading-related products and services, including composite+ pricing and other market data products to assist clients with trading decisions; auto-execution and other execution services for clients requiring specialized workflow solutions; connectivity solutions that facilitate straight-through processing; and technology services to optimize trading environments. In addition, the company provides various pre-and post-trade services, such as trade matching, trade publication, regulatory transaction reporting, and market and reference data across a range of fixed-income and other products.
MKTX (MarketAxess Holdings Inc.) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Financial - Capital Markets, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.95B, a trailing P/E of 15.89, a beta of 0.92 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 137.27-228.16, average daily share volume of 489K, a public-listing history dating back to 2004, approximately 891 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MKTX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.92 places MKTX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. MKTX pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a iron condor on MKTX?
An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes.
Current MKTX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $139.44, ATM IV 33.80%, IV rank 41.25%, expected move 9.69%. The iron condor on MKTX 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 iron condor structure on MKTX specifically: MKTX IV at 33.80% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a MKTX iron condor sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.69% (roughly $13.51 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 MKTX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MKTX should anchor to the underlying notional of $139.44 per share and to the trader's directional view on MKTX stock.
MKTX iron condor setup
The MKTX iron condor below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With MKTX near $139.44, the first option leg uses a $145.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MKTX 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 MKTX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Call | $145.00 | $3.33 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $155.00 | $0.98 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $130.00 | $2.48 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $125.00 | $1.35 |
MKTX iron condor risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$347.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $347.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$652.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $126.53, $148.48
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.533
Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit.
MKTX iron condor payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the iron condor on MKTX. 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% | -$152.50 |
| $30.84 | -77.9% | -$152.50 |
| $61.67 | -55.8% | -$152.50 |
| $92.50 | -33.7% | -$152.50 |
| $123.33 | -11.6% | -$152.50 |
| $154.16 | +10.6% | -$568.42 |
| $184.99 | +32.7% | -$652.50 |
| $215.82 | +54.8% | -$652.50 |
| $246.65 | +76.9% | -$652.50 |
| $277.48 | +99.0% | -$652.50 |
When traders use iron condor on MKTX
Iron condors on MKTX are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if MKTX stock stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
MKTX thesis for this iron condor
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MKTX extends from approximately $125.93 on the downside to $152.95 on the upside. A MKTX iron condor is a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that pays off when MKTX stays inside the inner short strikes through expiration; the wing width should reflect the trader's tolerance for the maximum loss scenario where the underlying breaches an outer strike. Current MKTX IV rank near 41.25% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the iron condor thesis on MKTX should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, MKTX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MKTX-specific events.
MKTX iron condor positions are structurally neutral / range-bound; 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. MKTX positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MKTX alongside the broader basket even when MKTX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a iron condor on MKTX carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical MKTX earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current MKTX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a iron condor on MKTX?
- A iron condor on MKTX is the iron condor strategy applied to MKTX (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / range-bound: An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes. With MKTX stock trading near $139.44, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MKTX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MKTX iron condor max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit. For the MKTX iron condor priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 33.80%), the computed maximum profit is $347.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$652.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MKTX iron condor?
- The breakeven for the MKTX iron condor priced on this page is roughly $126.53 and $148.48 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 MKTX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.69%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a iron condor on MKTX?
- Iron condors on MKTX are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if MKTX stock stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
- How does current MKTX implied volatility affect this iron condor?
- MKTX ATM IV is at 33.80% with IV rank near 41.25%, 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.