MUR Straddle Strategy
MUR (Murphy Oil Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on NYSE.
Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964. The company was incorporated in 1950 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
MUR (Murphy Oil Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.51B, a trailing P/E of 65.39, a beta of 0.54 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 20.31-43.34, average daily share volume of 2.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 750 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MUR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.54 indicates MUR 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 65.39 is on the rich side, which tends to correlate with higher earnings-window IV expansion as the market debates whether forward growth supports the multiple. MUR pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on MUR?
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 MUR snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $40.41, ATM IV 46.20%, IV rank 18.99%, expected move 13.25%. The straddle on MUR 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 MUR specifically: MUR IV at 46.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a MUR straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.25% (roughly $5.35 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 MUR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MUR should anchor to the underlying notional of $40.41 per share and to the trader's directional view on MUR stock.
MUR straddle setup
The MUR 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 MUR near $40.41, the first option leg uses a $40.41 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MUR 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 MUR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $40.41 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $40.41 | N/A |
MUR straddle 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
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.
MUR straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on MUR. 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 straddle on MUR
Straddles on MUR are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MUR straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
MUR thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MUR extends from approximately $35.06 on the downside to $45.76 on the upside. A MUR 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 MUR IV rank near 18.99% 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 MUR at 46.20%. As a Energy name, MUR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MUR-specific events.
MUR 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. MUR positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MUR alongside the broader basket even when MUR-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MUR chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on MUR?
- A straddle on MUR is the straddle strategy applied to MUR (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 MUR stock trading near $40.41, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MUR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MUR 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 MUR straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 46.20%), 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 MUR straddle?
- The breakeven for the MUR straddle 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 MUR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.25%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on MUR?
- Straddles on MUR are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MUR 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 MUR implied volatility affect this straddle?
- MUR ATM IV is at 46.20% with IV rank near 18.99%, 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.