A condor is a cousin of the butterfly that swaps the single peak for a profit plateau between two central strikes. Buy 1 lower call, sell 2 intermedia…
Profits when the underlying lands in a wide range between two strikes.
Curve at expiration · dashed line = breakeven · gold ticks = strikes
A condor is a cousin of the butterfly that swaps the single peak for a profit plateau between two central strikes. Buy 1 lower call, sell 2 intermediate calls (at different strikes) and buy 1 upper call. It profits across a wider range.
Use it when you expect the underlying within a wide range by expiration. Versus the butterfly it is more forgiving — a larger profit zone — in exchange for a smaller max gain.
With the example values already loaded in the calculator above, this strategy returns:
The numbers above come from the same engine as the calculator — change the fields to see your own scenario.
The max loss happens outside the outer strikes. There are two breakevens; between them lies the profitable region, peaking on the central plateau.
Butterfly for a defined target (narrow peak); condor for a range (wide plateau). The condor tolerates more forecasting error.
Yes — a credit variation combining a bear call spread and a bull put spread. The expiration profile is similar.