SPYEQUITY
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Equities
Futures
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Long Straddle Calculator

How this strategy works →
AssistantPRO
Type a trade in plain English. A fine-tuned model returns the symbol, structure, expiry and size — never a strike or a price.
RECORDED EXAMPLE1/3
“bull call spread on NVDA, 30 days, 2 contracts”
NVDAEQUITYBull Call Spread30d2×
Not a live answer. Captured from api.optionsandfuturescalculator.com on 2026-08-11 and replayed here — the assistant did not run just now. Type your own above and press Parse for a real one.
Trained on ES and NQ futures only — commodity roots are refused, not guessed.A bare futures directive (“Long NQ, 45 days”) often returns no parameters.Exercise style and averaging come from a keyword scan of your words.
Strategy47
Single-leg calls and puts are free
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Ticket
Averaging
Debit · 1 × 100—
Position · 0 legs
No legsSelect strikes from the option chain to build a position.
Exercise & Averaging
Exercise
Dividend yield is not modelled on this tree (drift is r − σ²/2). The strategy panel prices with a dividend yield; this panel does not.
Averaging
No resultPick a strike with a live quote to price the tree.
Saved
Nothing saved yetBuild a position, name it, and it will be here next time.
Probability Distribution
No distribution yetThe curve needs a live spot, an implied volatility off the option chain, and a real expiry. Add priced legs to draw it.
P&L matrixprice × date
price–
No grid yetAdd priced legs to compute P&L across price and date.
P&L surfaceprice × date × profit
Surface offTurn on 3D to see the position as a height field.
Option Chain
Outcome
No resultRun a calculation to see outcome, probability and Greeks.

A call and a put at the same strike and expiry, bought together. The position starts close to delta-neutral and pays on a large move in either direction, which makes it the instrument for an event whose outcome is unknown but whose size is not. Both legs carry full time value, so you pay twice and only one of them can finish in the money — the move has to clear the pair before anything is earned. Implied volatility almost always falls once the uncertainty resolves, which can turn a correct call on direction into a loss. Price both legs here and read the two breakevens sitting either side of spot.

The full Long Straddle guide, worked example and FAQs →

Both legs share one strike and one expiry, so the ticket is simpler than it looks — the cost comes from paying full premium on two at-the-money options, not from any complexity in the order. Because the position prices almost entirely off implied volatility rather than direction, compare the at-the-money implied volatility here against where it has recently traded before paying up into an already-elevated level. Exiting before an expected volatility drop, rather than holding through it, is the more common way this is actually traded.

Sizing and account notes

Size by the combined debit, and treat it as the full amount at risk rather than as two half-sized positions, since only one leg can ever pay and the other is a near-certain loss by construction. Implied volatility on the specific expiry chosen matters more than the underlying's general volatility level — a straddle priced into an earnings week embeds an event premium a straddle on an ordinary week does not, and the two are not comparable at face value. Many traders close before the event resolves if implied volatility has run up sharply, taking the vega gain rather than holding through the outcome.

Common mistake. The common mistake is buying it into a well-telegraphed event where implied volatility is already pricing the expected move, so being right about the event still loses if the move is merely average.

At a glance

Legs
2
Market view
Volatility — direction-agnostic
Opened for
Debit
What bounds the profit
Uncapped on a large move either way
What bounds the loss
Limited to the combined debit

The order ticket, from the worked example

#ActionInstrumentStrike
1BuyCall340
2BuyPut340

Payoff at expiry, across a price grid

Computed from the same strikes and net premium as the worked example above — not a simulation, the closed-form payoff evaluated at each price.

TSLA at expiryP&L
280$2530.00
310-$470.00
340-$3470.00
370-$470.00
400$2530.00
430$5530.00

How this compares with related strategies

StrategyMarket viewOpened forLegs vs. this one
Long StrangleVolatility — direction-agnosticDebitsame
Iron ButterflyNeutral — pinnedCredit+1
Long CallBullish — directionalDebit-1
Long PutBearish — directional, or a hedgeDebit-1