How are VLO strangle max profit and max loss calculated?

Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit. For the VLO strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 40.46%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,185.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a VLO strangle?

The breakeven for the VLO strangle priced on this page is roughly $223.15 and $271.85 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 VLO market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.60%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current VLO implied volatility affect this strangle?

VLO ATM IV is at 40.46% with IV rank near 56.86%, 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.

VLO Strangle Strategy

VLO (Valero Energy Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing industry), listed on NYSE.

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. It produces conventional, premium, and reformulated gasolines; gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB); diesel fuels, and low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuels; CARB diesel; other distillates; jet fuels; blendstocks; and asphalts, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined petroleum products, as well as sells lube oils and natural gas liquids. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.2 million barrels per day; and 12 ethanol plants with a combined ethanol production capacity of approximately 1.6 billion gallons per year. It sells its refined products through wholesale rack and bulk markets; and through approximately 7,000 outlets under the Valero, Beacon, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, and Texaco brands. The company also produces and sells ethanol, dry distiller grains, syrup, and inedible corn oil primarily to animal feed customers.

VLO (Valero Energy Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing, with a market capitalization of approximately $72.48B, a trailing P/E of 17.29, a beta of 0.57 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 125.1-258.43, average daily share volume of 3.7M, a public-listing history dating back to 1982, approximately 10K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how VLO stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.57 indicates VLO has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. VLO pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a strangle on VLO?

A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money.

Current VLO snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $249.44, ATM IV 40.46%, IV rank 56.86%, expected move 11.60%. The strangle on VLO 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 28-day expiry.

Why this strangle structure on VLO specifically: VLO IV at 40.46% 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 11.60% (roughly $28.94 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated VLO expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on VLO should anchor to the underlying notional of $249.44 per share and to the trader's directional view on VLO stock.

VLO strangle setup

The VLO strangle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With VLO near $249.44, the first option leg uses a $260.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed VLO chain at a 28-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 VLO shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$260.00	$6.65
Buy 1	Put	$235.00	$5.20

VLO strangle risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$1,185.00
Max Profit (per contract): Unbounded
Max Loss (per contract): -$1,185.00
Breakeven(s): $223.15, $271.85
Risk / Reward Ratio: Unbounded

Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit.

VLO strangle payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on VLO. 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%	+$22,314.00
$55.16	-77.9%	+$16,798.85
$110.31	-55.8%	+$11,283.71
$165.46	-33.7%	+$5,768.56
$220.62	-11.6%	+$253.42
$275.77	+10.6%	+$391.73
$330.92	+32.7%	+$5,906.87
$386.07	+54.8%	+$11,422.02
$441.22	+76.9%	+$16,937.17
$496.37	+99.0%	+$22,452.31

When traders use strangle on VLO

Strangles on VLO are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the VLO chain.

VLO thesis for this strangle

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for VLO extends from approximately $220.50 on the downside to $278.38 on the upside. A VLO long strangle is the OTM cousin of the straddle: lower up-front cost but the underlying has to travel further past either OTM strike before the position turns profitable at expiration. Current VLO IV rank near 56.86% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on VLO should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, VLO options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to VLO-specific events.

VLO strangle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM); 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. VLO positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move VLO alongside the broader basket even when VLO-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current VLO chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a strangle on VLO?: A strangle on VLO is the strangle strategy applied to VLO (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM): A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money. With VLO stock trading near $249.44, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed VLO chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are VLO strangle max profit and max loss calculated?: Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit. For the VLO strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 40.46%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,185.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a VLO strangle?: The breakeven for the VLO strangle priced on this page is roughly $223.15 and $271.85 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 VLO market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.60%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a strangle on VLO?: Strangles on VLO are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the VLO chain.
How does current VLO implied volatility affect this strangle?: VLO ATM IV is at 40.46% with IV rank near 56.86%, 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.