How to make $1,000 in three easy steps

Would you like a $1,000 paycheck in one week while doing basically nothing to earn it?   Well, nothing's free, so you'll have to pay with your nerves, at least for a little while, and that means you'll have to put something at risk, initially.  But what if you could construct it so that you know what you'll lose, worst case, and then construct it further so that you won't lose anything, if you're unlucky enough that you're passed over on the day the paychecks are handed out?  Would you like to try for $1,000 or nothing?  Follow along with what I did.

Step 1:  Buy 20 UVXY calls at the 12.00 strike, May 18th expiration for $0.75 each.  The multiplier is 100, so this will cost you $1,500.

Step 2:  Sell 2,000 shares of UVXY short at 12.30.  This requires enough margin to be permitted to do that.

Step 3:  Sell short 20 UVXY puts at the 11.50 strike, May 18th expiration for $0.45 each.  This will bring in $900.

You've now only effectively paid $600 for the options (setting the credit received for the puts against the cost of the calls), and you have thirty cents of profit you could reap on the shares, if you actually exercised those calls to cover the shares at the strike of 12.00, which comes out to $600 coming in to offset the price paid, so that's all you'll see, worst-case.  A total wash, with zero paid and zero lost.

Yet, should things go your way, you'll see a profit of up to $1,000.  Should UVXY end up below your put strike price, and the shares end up put to you, you'd use them to cover your short, so that's 12.30 minus 11.50, or a $1,600 profit on the shares, and as detailed above, you paid $600 for the combo of puts/calls.

Max loss:  $0

Max gain: $1,000

Expiration date:  May 18th