Stock Up 5%, Leveraged ETF Up 10%… My Options Barely Moved. Here’s Why.

I thought I had found a clever trade.

CRWV stock was running hot, up 5% on the day. Its 2x leveraged ETF, CRWX, doubled that move with a 10% gain. Naturally, I expected my CRWX call options to skyrocket. After all, leverage on leverage should be explosive, right?

Wrong.

Instead of the big payoff I imagined, my options barely moved — up only 10% — even with two weeks left until expiration. That was my wake-up call: options on leveraged ETFs don’t behave the way you think they should.

Options on leveraged ETFs: not as powerful as they look

Why Options on Leveraged ETFs Don’t Deliver: My CRWX vs CRWV Trading Lesson

Here’s what I learned from this trade, and why it’s a lesson worth remembering.

Lesson 1: Monthly Options = Less Flexibility

CRWX only offers monthly expirations. That means no weeklies to target short bursts of momentum. I was forced into contracts carrying extra time value, which dulled the reaction to price moves.

Lesson 2: Wide Spreads Eat Profits

The bid-ask spreads were painfully wide. The moment I entered, I was already underwater, and closing the trade meant giving up even more edge. Liquidity isn’t optional in options trading — it’s everything.

Lesson 3: High Premiums for ATM Strikes

At-the-money strikes came with inflated premiums, making it harder to capture meaningful gains. I ended up paying too much for the leverage, which muted my returns even further.

Lesson 4: Leveraged ETFs Are Built for Shares, Not Options

Here’s the biggest realization: leveraged ETFs already bake in their leverage. CRWX did its job, moving ~10% when CRWV moved ~5%. But the call options on CRWX didn’t provide the amplified return I expected.

In other words:

• If you want leveraged exposure, trade the ETF shares.

• If you want options juice, trade options on the underlying stock.

Takeaway: Keep It Simple

This trade taught me something I’ll carry forward: just because an ETF is leveraged doesn’t mean its options are better. In fact, they’re often worse — with less flexibility, wider spreads, and weaker deltas.

Next time, I’ll trade options on the stock itself. It’s simpler, cleaner, and ultimately gives me the leverage I’m looking for.

Sometimes the market doesn’t need a clever trick. It just needs a straightforward approach.

Have you ever traded options on leveraged ETFs? Drop your experience in the comments — let’s compare lessons.