Income strategies › Short strangle & straddle
Stop 4 of 7 on the CC Line
Short strangle & straddle betting on 'nothing happens'
Sell a put AND a call. Bigger premium, but losses can be very large. Not for beginners. Risk: High / undefined
How it works
Short strangle: sell an out-of-the-money put and an out-of-the-money call on the same stock and expiry. Short straddle: sell a put and a call at the same strike (usually at the current price). You collect two premiums and win if the stock stays inside a range.
🚨 Higher risk. The short call is uncovered: if the stock shoots up, losses are theoretically unlimited. Brokers usually require margin and a higher options approval level. Most beginners should not trade this.
When it earns
Quiet, sideways markets, especially after a spike in implied volatility settles down.
What can go wrong
- Unlimited upside risk on the call side; large downside risk on the put side (strike − credit, × 100).
- Margin calls: a sharp move can trigger a margin call and forced closing at the worst time.
- Gap risk: earnings or news overnight (that's daytime-to-evening in Singapore) can jump the price past both breakevens.
- Assignment on either leg, possibly leaving you short shares.
Worked example Hypothetical
Fictional XYZ at $50. Strangle: sell a $45 put for $1.00 and a $55 call for $1.00: $200 credit. Straddle: sell a $50 put for $2.50 and a $50 call for $2.50: $500 credit. All premiums are made-up.
| Scenario (hypothetical) | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Strangle, XYZ ends $45–$55 | Keep $200 (max) |
| Strangle breakevens | $43 and $57 |
| Strangle, XYZ ends at $65 | −$1,000 + $200 = −$800, and growing |
| Straddle breakevens | $45 and $55; max gain $500 only if XYZ ends exactly at $50 |
How fees eat into the premium
Using each broker's published fees from our own data (verified 2026-10-25): the cost to open this example (2 contracts in one order) next to the hypothetical $200 credit, and the same trade if the premium were a tiny $0.10 per share. Holding to expiry avoids a closing order; closing early roughly doubles the fees.
Includes commission, platform fee, per-order minimums, estimated US regulatory fees and 9% GST; excludes FX and exchange fees. "Promo" means open-ended promos available to everyone (no new-customer offers). Try your own numbers in the fee calculator →
Where to find sell-put ideas
We don't publish option prices or trade ideas. Several Singapore brokers have built-in screeners inside their apps that filter options by strike, expiry, premium or probability, using live data you're licensed to see as their customer:
- moomoo SG: Its app has an options screening tool marketed as Easy Sell Put, plus a general options screener and strategy builder. moomoo SG (placeholder referral link) · fees
- Tiger Brokers SG: The Tiger Trade app has an options screener / strategy tools for filtering contracts. Tiger Brokers SG (placeholder referral link) · fees
- Webull SG: Webull's app includes an options screener and a strategy builder. Webull SG (placeholder referral link) · fees
- Interactive Brokers SG: IBKR's platforms include market scanners and options strategy tools (e.g. in TWS). Interactive Brokers SG (placeholder referral link) · fees
Feature names and availability change and may depend on your account's options approval level; check in the app. A screener result is not a recommendation. ⚠ Referral links above are placeholders (not live); if they become affiliate links we may earn a fee at no cost to you (disclosure).
The CC Line
Seven option income strategies, drawn as a train line. Board at CC1: each stop builds on the ones before it. Interchange stops combine earlier ones.