A field guide for Indian traders

Options, decoded.
Without the jargon.

A complete walkthrough of options trading, adapted for Nifty, BankNifty, and Indian commodities. From beginner strategies to advanced position management — with real math, working payoff calculator, and honest risk disclosure.

Volume I

Fundamentals

The essential strategies every options trader needs. Start here if you're new.

Chapter 1

Options basics

Calls, puts, strike price, premium, expiry — the vocabulary you need before anything else makes sense.

Nifty
Chapter 2

Covered call writing

Earn income on the stocks you already own by selling calls against them. The classic income strategy.

Reliance
Chapter 3

Cash-secured puts

Get paid to wait for stocks you want to buy at a lower price. A quiet way to generate returns on cash.

TCS
Chapter 4

Buying calls (long call)

Bullish? A long call gives you unlimited upside with limited risk. When it works, when it doesn’t.

Nifty
Chapter 5

Buying puts (long put)

Insurance for your portfolio, or a bearish bet without shorting. How and when to buy puts.

BankNifty
Chapter 6

Bull call spread

Bullish with a defined budget and defined risk. The starter spread every options trader learns first.

Nifty
Chapter 7

Bear put spread

The mirror image of the bull call spread. Profit from a decline with capped risk.

Nifty
Chapter 8

Long straddles & strangles

Expecting a big move but unsure of direction? Buy volatility. Perfect for event days.

BankNifty
Chapter 9

Short straddles & strangles

Sell volatility when you expect calm. High win rate — but the tails will bite. Read this before trying it.

Nifty weekly
Chapter 10

Iron condor

The short strangle’s safer sibling. Defined-risk premium selling — the workhorse of income traders.

Nifty
Chapter 11

Butterfly spread

Precision bet on a specific price point. Small cost, big potential payoff when you nail the level.

Nifty
Chapter 12

Calendar spread

Trade time itself. Buy a longer-dated option, sell a shorter one — the theta-decay strategy.

Nifty monthly
Chapter 13

The Greeks, made simple

Delta, gamma, theta, vega — what they actually mean for your P&L, in plain language.

Concepts
Chapter 14

Position sizing & risk

How much to trade, when to stop, how to survive the drawdowns everyone eventually faces.

Practical
Chapter 15

Brokers & execution

Zerodha, Upstox, Angel — how to place trades, margin requirements, brokerage math.

India
Volume II

Advanced concepts

Ratio spreads, diagonals, delta hedging, volatility trading, position management. Ready when you've mastered the fundamentals.

Chapter 16

Synthetic positions & put-call parity

Every position has a twin. Understanding synthetics is the difference between amateur and pro.

Concepts
Chapter 17

Ratio spreads

Sell more than you buy. Asymmetric bets with big profit zones — and dangerous tails.

Directional
Chapter 18

Backspreads (reverse ratio)

Buy more than you sell. Cheap volatility bets that pay off huge when you're right.

Event days
Chapter 19

Diagonal spreads

Calendar meets vertical. The Poor Man's Covered Call and other capital-efficient income setups.

PMCC
Chapter 20

The Indian expiry cycle

Five indices, five expiry days. Sensex Tuesday, Bankex Monday, Bank Nifty monthly-only. The India-specific calendar that shapes your P&L.

Sensex + Nifty
Chapter 21

Volatility as an asset

India VIX, IV rank, mean reversion. Trade volatility itself — the professional edge.

India VIX
Chapter 22

Skew, smile & term structure

IV isn't one number — it's a surface. Understanding the shape reveals hidden opportunities.

IV surface
Chapter 23

Delta hedging in practice

Convert directional bets to pure vol plays. What market makers do all day.

Advanced
Chapter 24

Rolling & morphing positions

Extend, transform, or defend trades mid-flight. The adjustment recipes McMillan swears by.

Management
Chapter 25

Corporate actions & option adjustments

Splits, bonuses, mergers change your contract mid-trade. Know what happens to strikes.

Stock options
Chapter 26

Pin risk & assignment strategy

Expiry week is different. Physical delivery, pin risk, settlement — managing the last day.

Expiry week
Chapter 27

Trading psychology & the journal

The strategy that made ₹10L and the one that lost ₹10L are often the same. Psychology is the difference.

Meta
Chapter 28

Position sizing math

Beyond the 2% rule — Kelly criterion, volatility-scaling, portfolio Greeks limits.

Advanced sizing
Chapter 29

Building a mechanical strategy

Turn discretionary ideas into rules-based systems. Backtesting, walk-forward, automation.

Systematic
Chapter 30

When to stop options trading

89% of Indian retail F&O traders lose money. Knowing when to stop is a legitimate strategy.

Honest
Try it

See any strategy on a chart

The payoff calculator draws profit & loss for any combination of options — with Indian lot sizes and rupee amounts.

Open the calculator