VOC Strangle Strategy
VOC (VOC Energy Trust), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on NYSE.
VOC Energy Trust acquires and holds a term net profits interest of the net proceeds from production and sale of the interests in oil and natural gas properties in the states of Kansas and Texas. The company has an 80% term net profits interest of the net proceeds on the underlying properties. As of December 31, 2021, its underlying properties had interests in 452.5 net producing wells and 51,147.2 net acres. As of December 31, 2021, the company had proved reserves of approximately 2.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe) attributable to the portion of the Kansas underlying properties; and approximately 5.4 MMBoe attributable to the Texas underlying properties. VOC Energy Trust was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Houston, Texas.
VOC (VOC Energy Trust) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $52.0M, a trailing P/E of 8.74, a beta of 0.14 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 2.6-3.84, average daily share volume of 144K, a public-listing history dating back to 2011. These structural characteristics shape how VOC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.14 indicates VOC 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 8.74 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. VOC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a strangle on VOC?
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 VOC snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $3.28, ATM IV 175.20%, IV rank 58.42%, expected move 50.23%. The strangle on VOC 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 strangle structure on VOC specifically: VOC IV at 175.20% 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 50.23% (roughly $1.65 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 VOC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on VOC should anchor to the underlying notional of $3.28 per share and to the trader's directional view on VOC stock.
VOC strangle setup
The VOC 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 VOC near $3.28, the first option leg uses a $3.44 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed VOC 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 VOC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $3.44 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $3.12 | N/A |
VOC strangle 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 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.
VOC strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on VOC. 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 strangle on VOC
Strangles on VOC 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 VOC chain.
VOC thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for VOC extends from approximately $1.63 on the downside to $4.93 on the upside. A VOC 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 VOC IV rank near 58.42% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on VOC should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, VOC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to VOC-specific events.
VOC 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. VOC positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move VOC alongside the broader basket even when VOC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current VOC chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on VOC?
- A strangle on VOC is the strangle strategy applied to VOC (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 VOC stock trading near $3.28, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed VOC chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are VOC 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 VOC strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 175.20%), 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 VOC strangle?
- The breakeven for the VOC strangle 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 VOC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 50.23%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on VOC?
- Strangles on VOC 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 VOC chain.
- How does current VOC implied volatility affect this strangle?
- VOC ATM IV is at 175.20% with IV rank near 58.42%, 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.