Two credit spreads, one above and one below, in the same expiry.
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P&L @ spot—
P&L at the selected date, priced with Black–Scholes. At 0 DTE the curve is pure intrinsic value. A tool, not a recommendation.
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Open—
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52W high—
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What an Iron Condor is
Structure: Short put spread below the market + short call spread above it, same expiry, same width by convention.
An iron condor is a short put spread and a short call spread on the same underlying and expiry. You sell a range, keep a credit, and lose only if the stock leaves that range — and even then the two long wings cap the damage.
The shape is a flat tabletop between the short strikes, slopes down on both sides, and floors at the wider of the two wing widths. The important number is not the credit but the ratio between the credit and that wing width, because that ratio is the whole risk-reward of the trade.
The numbers
Max profit
total net credit (both spreads)
Max loss
the wider wing width − total net credit
Breakeven
short put strike − credit · short call strike + credit
These are at-expiration formulas. The chart above prices the structure at the selected date with Black–Scholes — at 0 DTE the curve is pure intrinsic value. A tool, not a recommendation.
When traders use it
You expect the stock to sit still, or you simply have no view and want to be paid for one.
Implied volatility is elevated relative to what you think will actually happen.
You want a defined loss on both sides, which a short strangle does not give you.
What works against it
Both sides can move against you, and a gap through one wing is a full-width loss on that side.
Uneven wings mean the wider side sets the max loss — a lopsided condor is not symmetrical risk.
The credit is small relative to the width. A few of these going wrong erases many of them going right.
Iron Condor questions
What is the max loss on an iron condor?
The wider wing width minus the total credit you collected. With $5-wide wings and $1.40 of credit the worst case is $3.60 per condor, reached if the stock closes beyond either long strike.
How are the breakevens calculated?
Short put strike minus the total credit, and short call strike plus the total credit. Those two prices are where the position stops making money at expiration.
Why are both wings usually the same width?
So that the max loss is the same on the call side and the put side — a symmetric risk profile. Uneven wings leave one side with a bigger maximum loss, which the calculator will show you.
Does the condor need the stock to stay completely flat?
No. It needs the stock to finish between the breakevens. Price can drift inside that range and the position still expires with the credit intact.
If it goes against you: common mitigations
Every entry below is a response traders commonly plan before entry, with what it actually costs. Which one is right depends on why you entered and what you now expect — that is a judgement the calculator cannot make for you, and none of this is advice.
Roll the untested side toward the market
Buy back the spread on the quiet side and sell a new one closer to the current price.
Pros: Collects more credit and rebalances a lopsided position.
Cons: Narrows the profitable range and doubles the exposure if the stock swings back across.
Consider when: One side is being tested while the other has decayed to little value.
Close the tested spread
Buy back only the spread the stock is moving toward, keeping the other.
Pros: Removes the losing side at a known price and keeps the remaining credit working.
Cons: You are still exposed if the stock reverses to the other side afterwards.
Consider when: You think the move continues in the direction it is already going.
Take the loss at a pre-set level
Close the whole condor when it reaches a loss level decided before entry.
Pros: Mechanical, caps the damage, and avoids the whipsaw argument with yourself at the bell.
Cons: A move that reverses afterwards would have recovered some of it, and you pay two more spreads.
Consider when: You set the level before entering and it has been reached.
Convert to an iron butterfly
Buy back the wings on the untested side and sell strikes closer to the money.
Pros: Adds credit and increases the value if the stock settles near a level.
Cons: The profitable range narrows sharply, so a reversal now hurts more.
Consider when: The stock has settled into a range you expect it to hold into expiry.