NAT Straddle Strategy

NAT (Nordic American Tankers Limited), in the Industrials sector, (Marine Shipping industry), listed on NYSE.

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 24 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was formerly known as Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited and changed its name to Nordic American Tankers Limited in June 2011. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

NAT (Nordic American Tankers Limited) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Marine Shipping, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.19B, a trailing P/E of 96.62, a beta of -0.52 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 2.55-6.34, average daily share volume of 5.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 1997, approximately 15 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NAT stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of -0.52 indicates NAT 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 96.62 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. NAT pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a straddle on NAT?

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 NAT snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $5.46, ATM IV 61.10%, IV rank 19.69%, expected move 17.52%. The straddle on NAT 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 NAT specifically: NAT IV at 61.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a NAT straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 17.52% (roughly $0.96 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 NAT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NAT should anchor to the underlying notional of $5.46 per share and to the trader's directional view on NAT stock.

NAT straddle setup

The NAT 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 NAT near $5.46, the first option leg uses a $5.46 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NAT 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 NAT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$5.46	N/A
Buy 1	Put	$5.46	N/A

NAT 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.

NAT straddle payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on NAT. 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 NAT

Straddles on NAT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy NAT straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.

NAT thesis for this straddle

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NAT extends from approximately $4.50 on the downside to $6.42 on the upside. A NAT 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 NAT IV rank near 19.69% 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 NAT at 61.10%. As a Industrials name, NAT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NAT-specific events.

NAT 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. NAT positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move NAT alongside the broader basket even when NAT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current NAT chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a straddle on NAT?: A straddle on NAT is the straddle strategy applied to NAT (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 NAT stock trading near $5.46, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NAT chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are NAT 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 NAT straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 61.10%), 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 NAT straddle?: The breakeven for the NAT 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 NAT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 17.52%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a straddle on NAT?: Straddles on NAT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy NAT 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 NAT implied volatility affect this straddle?: NAT ATM IV is at 61.10% with IV rank near 19.69%, 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.