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Nifty Credit Spread and Adjustments

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I had done a nifty credit spread a few days back so I will be discussing a live example with you. BTW credit spreads is my favorite strategy. I mostly do them every month and occasionally naked selling only if the markets gives me a great opportunity. If you do not know what a credit spread is here is an explanation.

An option credit spared is a position when the nearer strike option is sold and the further out of the money (OTM) option is bought for protection. Ideally they both should be of the same stock or index and of the same lot size and of the same months (some people create credit spreads with different months but that is entirely different subject. This article deals with same month credit spreads). Since the nearer option is sold – the difference of the amount between the sold and the bought option is “credited” to your account. Therefore the name – Credit Spreads.

Confusing? Ok let me give an example to help you understand.

Lets suppose nifty is at 5800. It has already fallen 200 points recently and you think a re-bounce may happen anytime soon. Even if it falls a bit further you do not think that it will go below 5600 this month. What do you do? You sell (short) one lot (or more) of the PUT at 5600. Now as you know shorting options can be very risky, to protect yourself from a great downfall you buy the same number of lots you sold at the strike price of 5500 or 5400 as per your risk. Now if nifty goes for a free fall you will realize some profit from the options you bought limiting your losses to a certain extend in the short options.

But then, how do you profit?

If both the options expire worthless you keep the premium. That is your maximum profit. Do not worry about losing the premium you paid for buying the options – you will profit anyway because the sold options will also expire worthless. Remember they were costlier than the ones you bought so the premium you received should be more than what you paid to buy the options.

Lets take a real example – a trade I did. As on June 12, 2013 Nifty closed at 5760. In the last 30 days Nifty made a high of almost 6200 and since May 30, 2013 Nifty is continuously falling from a high of 6133.75. This is a fall of almost 6% in 12 days. Yes Nifty can fall a bit further – but certainly from some point it will rebound. I don’t know from where, but eventually it should. (Even if it doesn’t I don’t have much to lose – I will explain why).

The VIX (volatility index) was also on the higher end. Note that option prices are directly proportional to volatility. If VIX is high option prices will also be priced higher. Tomorrow if volatility drops the same options will lose their value. (In that case I can actually profit tomorrow itself and close my positions. However I am not in a hurry.) For those who want some more info on volatility here is a para taken from http://www.moneycontrol.com/indian-indices/india-vix-36.html:

Volatility Index is a measure of market’s expectation of volatility over the near term. Volatility is often described as the “rate and magnitude of changes in prices” and in finance often referred to as risk. Volatility Index is a measure, of the amount by which an underlying Index is expected to fluctuate, in the near term, (calculated as annualized volatility, denoted in percentage e.g. 20%) based on the order book of the underlying index options.

India VIX is a volatility index based on the NIFTY Index Option prices. From the best bid-ask prices of NIFTY Options contracts, a volatility figure (%) is calculated which indicates the expected market volatility over the next 30 calendar days.

Since the volatility was high I was getting a good price on July 5500 PE (put option). I got it at 45. Now you tell me what are the chances that after falling 6% in 12 days Nifty will fall another 5% and more? Slim. But one can’t predict markets, so protection is important – very very important. Here is what I did:

1. Short (sold) to open Nifty July 5500 PE at 45*400 (8 lots) = Rs. 18000.00 (credit in my account)
2. Long (bought) to open Nifty July 5300 PE at 20*400 (8 lots) = Rs. 8000.00 (debit from my account)

Total credit = 18000 – 8000 = Rs. 10,000.00.

ROI: 45 days are left for expiry. Total money invested is 1,30,000.00. Absolute return is 7.69%. it comes to almost 5% return in a month. Of course, I need to get out in a profit.

Here is the profit and loss graph of Credit Spreads:

Credit Spreads Profit Loss

By seeing the image I hope you can understand that profit and loss in a credit spread is always limited.

Now coming to my trade. As you can see I got a credit, the trade is called “Credit Spread”. This can be done either in calls or in puts. You just have to sell the option with the higher value and buy the option with the lower value to get a credit in your account.

Credit spread usually have a success rate of 80%. But here is a cliche – one losing trade can eat profits of many months. Therefore its important to adjust your credit spreads if your short leg is in trouble – and it does happens believe me – more often than you can think of.

Why I did a trade in July month and not June month. Only 15 days are left for expiry of this month so I would have not got a good credit at 5500 puts. (June 5500 PE is at 13.05) plus if Nifty starts moving down fast I will have no time to adjust my credit spread. It made sense to play the next month options.

Profits are limited, what about the losses?

Good question. You see losses are limited too since I have bought 5300 puts for protection. The difference between the prices of the options will be my maximum loss. Lets take an example. What happens if Nifty closed at 5200 in July expiry:

1. 5500 PE = 300 (5500-5200 = 300) I had received 45 so ((45-300)*400) = -102000.00

2. 5300 PE = 100 (5300-5200 = 100) I had paid 20 so ((100-20)*400) = 32000

32,000 -1,02,000.00 = -70,000.00 this is my maximum loss. However my profits are only 10,000.00. As you can see even if I make profit for 7 months – just one month loss will offset my profits. Therefore I should adjust my spread if Nifty gets closer to my shorted puts i.e… 5500. and I have to do it much before I enter a huge loss.

Lets see how we adjust our credit spread if it really comes to that. Luckily I did not have to adjust my spreads as Nifty never came close to my short puts. 🙂 (BTW if I had to, I would have taken a small loss in my credit spread and rolled it down 200 points if Nifty had fallen sharply near 5500 very fast as soon as I opened my spreads. If nifty closed above my new position I will have no profit or no loss or some profit / loss depending on the trade. But I would have certainly avoided a huge loss as explained earlier. And further I keep a record of my trades so if anytime I adjust my spreads I will update this post with a real adjustment of credit spreads.)

Here is a update: On July 04, 2013 I closed my credit spread.

I bought July 5500 PE (remember I had sold it earlier) at 16.00, and
I sold July 5500 PE (remember I had bought it earlier for protection) at 4.50.

Lets calculate my profit or loss:

Sold July 5500 PE (8 lots): (45 -16) * 400 = 11,600.00 (profit)
Bought July 5300 PE (8 lots): (4.50 – 20) * 400 = -6200.00 (loss)
Total Profit: 11,600.00 – 6200.00 = 5,400.00

Some people might be thinking why I bought the protection. My profit would have been great. Yes you are right, but falls are steeper, even before you know you can incur huge losses. With this small price for insurance at least I can sleep better in night. You don’t want to make money without sleeping, do you?

Lets calculate return on investment.

Total cost of opening the spread: 1,30,000.00

Absolute returns: (5400/130000.00) * 100 = 4.15% in 20 days.

Note that I could have close my spread a few days back when Nifty went near 5900 and got even better profits in less days – but these things keep happening in trading. You never get the best price. Ultimately its the profits that matters. 🙂

Also I did not wait for the expiry. Why? Because I am already getting a good profit and a full month is left for expiry. A winning trade can become a losing trade some day, who knows. So its better to close the spread when you have realised a good profit from it and release your locked for margin cash for opening another spread or doing any other trade.

Hope this article has helped you to understand credit spreads. If you want to know anything please ask in the comments section below.



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About the author: Dilip Shaw I started trading stock markets since 2007. However my first 3 years were losses. Then I dedicated almost 1 year on studying, researching, paper trading options and learned a lot in that time. Since 2011 I am trading Nifty options profitably. Call me if you need any help trading options on 9051143004.

{ 10 comments… add one }
  • Neptune March 27, 2015, 8:01 pm

    If nifty reaches near to 5500 (means a sharp drop), did you mean to square off this position and then again short a downside position like 5200PE? If that is the case, what about the insurance ie 5300PE? we have to keep this as it is?

    • Dilip Shaw March 31, 2015, 1:08 pm

      The 5300PE should be in profits. This will limit the losses. However it is recommended that you rollover only once or twice. What happens if Nifty keeps going down? You will keep losing money though limited. After two rollovers if Nifty still goes down and hits SL, its better to stop trading or look for a better opportunity to trade. Once Nifty reverses, you can again sell the put spread.

      Hope that helps.

  • IAN August 22, 2015, 10:12 am

    Hi Dilip,
    I am very happy to meet you and thank you very much for all the emails you sent me. I went through them and still reading your free Options Nifty educational series. We are suffering from severe power shortage, power cuts, load shedding, no power at all. I need your help to trade in Vedanta Ltd. The stock is falling and afraid of losing Rs.5000 which I bought when the company was Sterling Industry. The stock price had gone up from 150 to 350 and was supposed to go up still further but I went away to Nepal forgot about the stock. I wanted to get out but being low wanted to wait but now its falling too fast. Please help in Options trading how can I recover the Rs.5000 and Options intra day trading with VEDL IN NSE&BSE. I’ll follow your advice by email and SMS. PLEASE GIVE THIS HAS A GIFT AND LATER HAVE A LOT TO SHARE ABOUT YOU TEACHING&TRAINING IN SAARC COUNTRIES. I HOPE TO RECEIVE YOUR ADVICE AND STEPS TO TRADE IN VEDL F&O. HOPE TO RECEIVE A REPLY. THANKING YOU,
    Yours Sincerely
    Ian Pacheco

    • Dilip Shaw August 23, 2015, 11:22 am

      Ian,

      Speculators lose money in stock markets.

      You can sell a call option above your average price. Some money can be recovered if stock falls.

      But recovering 5000 not possible in 1 day.

      Thanks.

      • Ian Pacheco August 24, 2015, 1:24 pm

        Dear Dilip,
        Thanks for the reply. I didn’t expect a one line answer. In the laws of Philanthropy giving to others one’s earning, Knowledge, or one’s wealth voluntarily is done with great joy and own pleasure it cannot be calculated. Happiness & peace they get is derived from the acts of generosity. I appeal to you in the same light asking your helping hand to trade in Options of Vedanta Ltd-VEDL in NSE INDIA. With all your experience I request for option trading strategy which will help me in a few trades to recover Rs.5000 invested in the stock. The stock Vedanta Ltd is fast falling and will reach 60.
        What Option strategy to use for a covered put?
        How to hedge the covered put? (its new to me) and Credit Spread
        Looking at the Option Chain in Nifty Derivatives at what premium and how many lots should I invest?
        What will be the total cost of the investment to recover Rs.5000?
        How many trades will I have to perform or carry out?
        What strategy do you have to help me to trade in Options with Vedanta Ltd a metal&mining company. I hope to receive a favorable reply
        Yours Sincerely

        • Dilip Shaw August 24, 2015, 4:32 pm

          Ian,

          Please understand that a loss is a loss. If you try to adjust a loss, you can make a profit or make more loss. So the risk increases. Therefore I do not like adjustments. I hedge and take a stop loss. I had already replied you but you are not satisfied – you want to recover your 5000 on Intraday on a positional cash holding in equity. How is that possible?

          Options are not magic wand that you put a strategy and it makes money. You have to know what you are doing.

          I suggest the same thing. Sell a call option at your break even price of Vedanta Ltd. But frankly a 5000 loss is really small to bother much. Better to take a stop loss and NEVER repeat the mistake of speculation buying again.

          Think that 5000 loss thought you never to speculate. This will lessen the pain of losing.

          Hope it helps.

          Best.

  • RAVINDER May 15, 2017, 11:05 am

    But I think 5400 rs profit is not a good deal against 70000 rs loss

    • Dilip Shaw May 15, 2017, 11:11 am

      Every trade and pro and cons and that should be kept in mind.

  • Ansh June 26, 2018, 12:58 pm

    Hi Dilip,
    I am new to options trading and have a small doubt. When you short any option, does the credit amount goes to your account literally and you could buy the option from that credit amount. Is it possible??

    Thanks in advance:)

    • Dilip Shaw July 4, 2018, 11:51 am

      The credit amount when you sell an option is blocked until you buy back to close the option. The final profit is your final credit and if loss then you have to pay for the loss. Ex sold at 50 and buy back at 60 means you have to pay 10 point loss from your trading account.

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