Broken Wing Butterfly: Skewed Risk Distribution for Income

A broken wing butterfly is a butterfly spread with asymmetric wing widths. The narrow wing limits gain on one side; the wide wing limits loss on that side. Often executed for a credit or zero cost — a defining feature.

Construction: a put broken wing butterfly buys 1 OTM put, sells 2 further OTM puts, buys 1 even further OTM put — but the lower wing is wider than the upper wing (or vice versa), creating asymmetric risk. The asymmetry pays off in the form of a credit or near-zero cost entry. Profit zone exists between the long strikes; the wide-wing side has limited but defined loss; the narrow-wing side has minimal or no loss because of the credit collected.

Use case: high-probability income trade where you want defined risk and asymmetric reward. Often used as an alternative to short verticals when you want a wider profit zone with similar capital requirement. Common application: skip-strike butterflies on indexes for monthly income, sized to be no-loss on one side and small defined loss on the other.

Frequently Asked Questions

Broken wing butterfly vs iron condor?

BWB has narrower profit zones but often executes for a credit. Iron condor has wider profit zones but smaller credit. BWB is more common for one-directional setups.

What does 'broken wing' mean exactly?

The two wings of the butterfly are unequal in width — one is wider than the other, creating asymmetric P&L.

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