Long Put Condor: Bearish-Side Defined-Risk Range Trade
A long put condor buys 1 OTM put, sells 1 closer-OTM put, sells 1 ATM put, buys 1 ITM put. Four legs, equidistant strikes, same expiration. Mirror of the long call condor.
Equivalent in P&L profile to a long call condor at the same strikes — synthetic equivalence holds via put-call parity. Choose put condor over call condor based on which side of the chain has better fills, or based on personal preference for working with puts vs calls when modeling the structure.
Use case identical to long call condor: range-bound thesis with defined target zone at expiration. Some traders prefer put condors on equity indexes because the put skew makes the long ITM put leg slightly more efficient on entry. Differences are small in practice; choose based on chain fills.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why pick put condor over call condor?
Marginal differences in fill quality and skew. The P&L profiles are identical at the same strikes.
Is this a beginner-friendly structure?
Four-leg structures require attention. Master verticals and iron condors before attempting condors with debit construction.