Nifty Options Vertical Spread Trading

gmt900

Well-Known Member
Hi Abhinay,

I look for very simple setup for a trade and also dont want to make my trade to be a complex one. I do this because I can't promise myself complete attention to market during trading hours.

Main intention is to take low risk. First and foremost thing in my mind is to save the capital...then manage the trade properly money will come automatically..I'm just learning like you!

There are few things we need to keep in mind when we are trading options. Few things i can list down are,

1) OI - check where is the highest OI in options chain. Currently its at 5700PE and 6100CE. I take these two act as support and resistance. So market can bounce from support and fall from resistance. If these points are broken then further downside or upside can be possible and the become strong support and resistance
So if market is near support you can take Debit call spread or Credit put spread and if market is near resistance you can take debit put spread or credit call spread both these spreads act simillarly but the difference is the RR.

2) IV - observe the IV of options. They say if IV is low and expected increase, buy options. If IV is high and expected to decrease then sell options.

3) Direction of the market - this is bit tricky but you need to find some way to find it, like using EMA's or trend lines. I sometimes use ADX too. However these are not necessary. You can see the direction of the market just by seeing any graph. You dont need to be always correct because even if you are wrong you can adjust the spread or get out with minimal impact to your spread. What I do is keep a SL in mind in terms of NIFTY levels. Say now i feel 5800 is SL..so i will adjust my spread if its breached or simply get out and look for another opportunity.

4) You need not have position in market always...sometimes you will miss some rally but its ok. Sometimes I also feel I should have played a naked option..missed such a good run in market because of my spreads my profit is limited and all that things but try to control that because spread will save us in bad times...surviving in market is important than earning.

5) For exiting the trade, If market is in my favor i try to ride it as much as possible until it finds resistance and if we see some change in direction, exit is triggered. If we play OTM's it will be usually 10 - 15 points. There are exceptions..if IV increased after we enter sometimes we get more than 20 points..

I also play naked options when I feel but I know my limit and play within my boundary.

These are all not hard and fast rules...sometimes I take high risk trades like 30-40 points(ATM)..but it all depends on situation but always I avoid trading current month options during expiry week.When my intention is to take low risk trade and I'm able to get consistent return, I'm happy with it. Just need to maintain discipline. There is nothing secret in this other than what I mentioned above.One just need to enter the trade and learn to manage it.

For more knowledge, read AW10 & Dan's thread which I mentioned in the first post of this thread.

If you have any more queries you are welcome to ask here. Experts like Dan visits this thread, he shares his knowledge if its a genuine and valid question.

All the best!.
Dear Ananth,
I too used to think that one should avoid trading current month's options during expiry week and it is prudent to do so. However, last month I tried to use Max Pain theory during expiry week to take a long butterfly trade as I had posted in your thread.
I think it has good RRR. Since we are interested in low risk options, it may be worth exploring this strategy during expiry week.
Thanks and regards,
gmt900
 

ananths

Well-Known Member
Dear Ananth,
I too used to think that one should avoid trading current month's options during expiry week and it is prudent to do so. However, last month I tried to use Max Pain theory during expiry week to take a long butterfly trade as I had posted in your thread.
I think it has good RRR. Since we are interested in low risk options, it may be worth exploring this strategy during expiry week.
Thanks and regards,
gmt900
Yes. Thanks for highlighting that....your trade was very good. We need to explore that option.
 

ananths

Well-Known Member
Spread #4 Dt 07/10/2013

Another credit spread for the month

Short 5600PE @ 55 (54) = +1
Long 5500PE @ 38 (39) = +1

Net P/L = +2 points

Why credit spread now?..I expect market to hold 5800 and for a debit spread in call side, the cost is too high (~40). Since rupee has appreciated market is not falling too much and PUT side IV is around 28 - 30 and call side its only 23!
Whats the plan if market falls below 5800? Will adjust this spread...how? I have something in mind which I think may not be needed at this stage. Let us see how it goes.
Closed this spread #4 today
Short 5600PE @ 55 (50) = +5
Long 5500PE @ 38 (35) = -3

Net P/L = +2 Points

New Debit Spread #5
Long 5900PE @ 125 (125) = 0
Short 5800PE @ 95 (93) = +2

Net P/L = +2 points
 
Closed this spread #4 today
Short 5600PE @ 55 (50) = +5
Long 5500PE @ 38 (35) = -3

Net P/L = +2 Points

New Debit Spread #5
Long 5900PE @ 125 (125) = 0
Short 5800PE @ 95 (93) = +2

Net P/L = +2 points
Historically, is it better to go short on Nifty when IV touches 30? Or as with vertical trading, form a credit spread? And at what level of IV should be good to go long or form a debit spread?
 

ananths

Well-Known Member
Historically, is it better to go short on Nifty when IV touches 30? Or as with vertical trading, form a credit spread? And at what level of IV should be good to go long or form a debit spread?
I have never traded only based on IV data. For a vertical spread position we have both long and short options hence it should compensate each other. However if IV goes too high than normal values then once the volatality goes down, you expect option prices to come down..especially during the 2nd half of the month(nearing expiry)

I dont have historical data for IV...but i think for Call side max is around 25 and put side max around 30. If we go with that as baseline both side IV is high now but this month is a long F&O expiry month with 31 days and high volatality will be there in coming weeks because of events in US.

By seeing current trend I think its better to have Iron condor :)
 
Historically, is it better to go short on Nifty when IV touches 30? Or as with vertical trading, form a credit spread? And at what level of IV should be good to go long or form a debit spread?
Where can we check the Implied Volatility. My NEST Trader does not reflect the values, maybe NEST Plus is where they show the vales.:mad:
 

ananths

Well-Known Member
New Debit Spread #5
Long 5900PE @ 125 (125) = 0
Short 5800PE @ 95 (93) = +2

Cost of the spread is 30 points

Net P/L = +2 points
EOD status,

Long 5900PE @ 125 (85) = -40
Short 5800PE @ 95 (61) = +34

Net P/L = -6 Points

Not a very good day because I did not catch such a good rally...:(
Mainly because market did not give any pull back. I wanted to enter to adjust the spread with an OTM (5600PE) sell at around 5920 but could not do it thinking that market will give a dip...but it went up and up..

Still made 3 points in short 5600PE but covered it early...as if market was waiting for me to exit and then at end of the day there was more than 10 points in it :(
 

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