UCOP Long Put Strategy
UCOP (ProShares Trust), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
UCOP is designed to achieve a daily return that is twice the performance of copper prices, before accounting for fees and operating costs. The fund benchmarks its performance against the United States Copper Index Fund (CPER), an ETF that invests in copper futures. Rather than directly holding physical copper or futures contracts, UCOP primarily uses swap agreements to establish its leveraged exposure. Its K-1 free structure offers a more straightforward tax reporting experience compared to various other commodity funds. Any remaining capital is typically invested in short-duration holdings such as US Treasury bills, repurchase agreements, or money market funds, which serve as collateral. The portfolio undergoes rebalancing daily to maintain approximately 200% exposure.
UCOP (ProShares Trust) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $6.9M, a beta of 2.22 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 36.49-47.68, average daily share volume of 3K, a public-listing history dating back to 2026. These structural characteristics shape how UCOP stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 2.22 indicates UCOP has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. UCOP pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a long put on UCOP?
A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration.
UCOP snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $45.73, ATM IV 66.00%, expected move 18.92%. The long put on UCOP below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this long put structure on UCOP specifically: IV rank is unavailable in the current snapshot, so regime-based timing for UCOP is inferred from ATM IV at 66.00% alone, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 18.92% (roughly $8.65 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated UCOP expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on UCOP should anchor to the underlying notional of $45.73 per share and to the trader's directional view on UCOP stock.
UCOP long put setup
The UCOP long put below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With UCOP at $45.73 on that close, the first option leg uses a $46.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed UCOP chain at a 35-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 UCOP shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Put | $46.00 | $5.25 |
UCOP long put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$525.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $4,074.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$525.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $40.75
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 7.760
Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium.
UCOP long put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the long put on UCOP. 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% | +$4,074.00 |
| $10.12 | -77.9% | +$3,062.99 |
| $20.23 | -55.8% | +$2,051.99 |
| $30.34 | -33.7% | +$1,040.98 |
| $40.45 | -11.5% | +$29.98 |
| $50.56 | +10.6% | -$525.00 |
| $60.67 | +32.7% | -$525.00 |
| $70.78 | +54.8% | -$525.00 |
| $80.89 | +76.9% | -$525.00 |
| $91.00 | +99.0% | -$525.00 |
When traders use long put on UCOP
Long puts on UCOP hedge an existing long UCOP stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying UCOP exposure being hedged.
UCOP thesis for this long put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for UCOP extends from approximately $37.08 on the downside to $54.38 on the upside. A UCOP long put expresses a directional view that the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration, frequently sized to hedge an existing long UCOP position with one put per 100 shares held. As a Financial Services name, UCOP options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to UCOP-specific events.
UCOP long put positions are structurally bearish; 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. UCOP positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move UCOP alongside the broader basket even when UCOP-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a long put on UCOP are particularly exposed to IV-crush risk through scheduled events (earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank meetings) where IV typically contracts post-event regardless of the directional outcome. Always rebuild the position from current UCOP chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a long put on UCOP?
- A long put on UCOP is the long put strategy applied to UCOP (stock). The strategy is structurally bearish: A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration. With UCOP stock at $45.73 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed UCOP chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are UCOP long put max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the UCOP long put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 66.00%), the computed maximum profit is $4,074.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$525.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a UCOP long put?
- The breakeven for the UCOP long put priced on this page is roughly $40.75 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The UCOP market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 18.92%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a long put on UCOP?
- Long puts on UCOP hedge an existing long UCOP stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying UCOP exposure being hedged.
- How does current UCOP implied volatility affect this long put?
- Current UCOP ATM IV is 66.00%; IV rank context is unavailable in the current snapshot.