MUX Straddle Strategy
MUX (McEwen Mining Inc.), in the Basic Materials sector, (Other Precious Metals industry), listed on NYSE.
McEwen Mining Inc. engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold and silver deposits in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The company also explores for copper deposits. It primarily owns a 100% interest in the Gold Bar mine in Eureka County, Nevada; the Black Fox gold mine in Ontario, Canada; the El Gallo Project and Fenix silver-gold project in Sinaloa, Mexico; the Los Azules copper deposit in San Juan, Argentina; and a portfolio of exploration properties in Nevada, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. It also owns a 49% interest in the San José mine located in Argentina. The company was formerly known as US Gold Corporation and changed its name to McEwen Mining Inc. in January 2012. McEwen Mining Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
MUX (McEwen Mining Inc.) trades in the Basic Materials sector, specifically Other Precious Metals, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.55B, a trailing P/E of 20.60, a beta of 1.19 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 7.02-29.7, average daily share volume of 1.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MUX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.19 places MUX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a straddle on MUX?
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 MUX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $22.80, ATM IV 67.80%, IV rank 41.56%, expected move 19.44%. The straddle on MUX 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 MUX specifically: MUX IV at 67.80% 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 19.44% (roughly $4.43 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 MUX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MUX should anchor to the underlying notional of $22.80 per share and to the trader's directional view on MUX stock.
MUX straddle setup
The MUX 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 MUX near $22.80, the first option leg uses a $23.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MUX 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 MUX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $23.00 | $1.60 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $23.00 | $1.88 |
MUX straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$347.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$339.45
- Breakeven(s)
- $19.53, $26.48
- 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.
MUX straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on MUX. 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% | +$1,951.50 |
| $5.05 | -77.9% | +$1,447.49 |
| $10.09 | -55.7% | +$943.48 |
| $15.13 | -33.6% | +$439.47 |
| $20.17 | -11.5% | -$64.54 |
| $25.21 | +10.6% | -$126.45 |
| $30.25 | +32.7% | +$377.56 |
| $35.29 | +54.8% | +$881.57 |
| $40.33 | +76.9% | +$1,385.58 |
| $45.37 | +99.0% | +$1,889.59 |
When traders use straddle on MUX
Straddles on MUX are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MUX straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
MUX thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MUX extends from approximately $18.37 on the downside to $27.23 on the upside. A MUX 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 MUX IV rank near 41.56% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the straddle thesis on MUX should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Basic Materials name, MUX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MUX-specific events.
MUX 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. MUX positions also carry Basic Materials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MUX alongside the broader basket even when MUX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MUX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on MUX?
- A straddle on MUX is the straddle strategy applied to MUX (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 MUX stock trading near $22.80, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MUX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MUX 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 MUX straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 67.80%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$339.45 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MUX straddle?
- The breakeven for the MUX straddle priced on this page is roughly $19.53 and $26.48 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 MUX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 19.44%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on MUX?
- Straddles on MUX are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MUX 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 MUX implied volatility affect this straddle?
- MUX ATM IV is at 67.80% with IV rank near 41.56%, 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.