Long Straddle

The Strategy

A long straddle is the best of both worlds, since the call gives you the right to buy the stock at strike price A and the put gives you the right to sell the stock at strike price A. But those rights don’t come cheap.

The goal is to profit if the stock moves in either direction. Typically, a straddle will be constructed with the call and put at-the-money (or at the nearest strike price if there’s not one exactly at-the-money). Buying both a call and a put increases the cost of your position, especially for a volatile stock. So you’ll need a fairly significant price swing just to break even.

Advanced traders might run this strategy to take advantage of a possible increase in implied volatility. If implied volatility is abnormally low for no apparent reason, the call and put may be undervalued. The idea is to buy them at a discount, then wait for implied volatility to rise and close the position at a profit.

The Setup

• Buy a call, strike price A
• Buy a put, strike price A
• Generally, the stock price will be at strike A

NOTE: Both options have the same expiration month.

Who Should Run It

Seasoned Veterans and higher

NOTE: At first glance, this seems like a fairly simple strategy. However, it is not suited for all investors. To profit from a long straddle, you’ll require fairly advanced forecasting ability.

Break-even at Expiration

There are two break-even points:

• Strike A plus the net debit paid.
• Strike A minus the net debit paid.

The Sweet Spot

The stock shoots to the moon, or goes straight down the toilet.

Maximum Potential Profit

Potential profit is theoretically unlimited if the stock goes up.

If the stock goes down, potential profit may be substantial but limited to the strike price minus the net debit paid.

Maximum Potential Loss

Potential losses are limited to the net debit paid.

Margin Requirement

After the trade is paid for, no additional margin is required.

As Time Goes By

For this strategy, time decay is your mortal enemy. It will cause the value of both options to decrease, so it’s working doubly against you.

Implied Volatility

After the strategy is established, you really want implied volatility to increase. It will increase the value of both options, and it also suggests an increased possibility of a price swing. Huzzah.

Conversely, a decrease in implied volatility will be doubly painful because it will work against both options you bought. If you run this strategy, you can really get hurt by a volatility crunch.