Options terms, in plain language

A contract that gives its buyer a right, not an obligation, to buy or sell an underlying at a fixed price on or before a fixed date. The seller takes on the obligation.

See also: Call, Put

An option that gives its buyer the right to buy at the strike. The seller (writer) has the obligation to sell. The app always writes the word Call in full.

See also: Put, Strike

An option that gives its buyer the right to sell at the strike. The writer has the obligation to buy. The app always writes the word Put in full.

See also: Call, Strike

The index or stock an option is written on, such as NIFTY, BANKNIFTY or RELIANCE, always shown by its symbol in capitals.

The fixed price written into the contract. One expiry carries a ladder of strikes, and each strike has its own Call and its own Put.

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See also: Expiry, ATM, ITM and OTM

The date a contract ends. Each expiry has its own chain. On expiry day the series settles at 15:40 IST.

See also: Days to expiry, Strike

Calendar days from the data time to the expiry date, written as N days to expiry, or N DTE on a small chip. On the expiry date itself it reads Expiry day (today on the expiry chip).

Used in: Option Chain, Options Scanner, Trader Cockpit

See also: Expiry

The number of units in one contract, set by the exchange and revised from time to time. Premium and Open Interest are quoted per unit.

Used in: Strategy Builder

The price of an option, quoted per unit. It is intrinsic value plus time value.

See also: Intrinsic value, Time value

The part of the premium that is real today: for a Call, spot minus strike; for a Put, strike minus spot; never below zero.

Used in: Option Chain

See also: Time value

The part of the premium above intrinsic value. It pays for the chance of a move before expiry and wears away as expiry comes closer.

Used in: Option Chain

See also: Theta, Intrinsic value

At the money (ATM) is the strike nearest the price. In the money (ITM) strikes have intrinsic value; out of the money (OTM) strikes have none. A Call below the price is ITM; a Put above it is ITM.

Used in: Option Chain, Trader Cockpit, Strategy Builder

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See also: Straddle, Strike

The current price of the underlying in the cash market. The chain is centred on the strike nearest to it.

Used in: Option Chain, Trader Cockpit

Where the market prices the underlying at expiry. It sits above spot by the cost of carry, and the app reads it from Call and Put prices at the listed strikes (put-call parity). It is not a futures quote.

Used in: Implied Volatility, Trader Cockpit

Last traded price: the price of the most recent trade in the contract. It is not always a price one can deal at; the bid and ask show that.

Used in: Option Chain

See also: Bid and ask

The best price a buyer is offering (bid) and the best price a seller is asking (ask) right now.

Used in: Option Chain, Strategy Builder

See also: Bid-ask spread, LTP

The gap between ask and bid, as a share of the price. A wide gap makes every figure calculated from that contract less reliable.

Used in: Strategy Builder, Option Chain

See also: Bid and ask

Contracts traded so far today. Volume counts trades; Open Interest counts positions still open.

Used in: Option Chain

See also: Open Interest

How far a contract's price has moved from the previous close, in rupees and per cent. It is the price half of a build-up.

See also: Build-up

The strike where the total payout to option buyers at expiry is smallest, worked out from the Open Interest at every strike. A level read from the book, not a prediction.

Used in: Option Chain, Open Interest, PCR, Trader Cockpit, Open Interest Heatmap

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See also: Open Interest

On the Open Interest page's Max Pain view: the line across the stacked Call and Put payouts at each strike. Its lowest point is Max Pain.

Used in: Open Interest

See also: Max Pain

On the chain, the strike with the heaviest Put Open Interest below spot (the Support pill) and the strike with the heaviest Call Open Interest above it (the Resistance pill). Levels where positions are heaviest, not prices that must hold.

Used in: Option Chain, Trader Cockpit, Open Interest Heatmap

See also: Call wall, Put wall

The same two levels drawn from today's traded volume instead of Open Interest: the strikes below and above spot where the most contracts changed hands.

Used in: Option Chain

See also: OI Support and OI Resistance

Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega and Rho: how an option's premium reacts to price, time, volatility and interest rates.

Used in: Option Chain, Strategy Builder

See also: Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, Rho

Contracts still open at a strike: bought and sold but not yet closed or expired. It counts positions, not trades, and does not say who holds them.

Used in: Option Chain, Open Interest

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See also: Open Interest change, Volume

Open Interest now less an earlier reading: contracts added (+) or closed (−) since the previous close, or across the chosen window.

Used in: Option Chain, Open Interest

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See also: Build-up

The Open Interest change as a per cent of where it started. A tiny starting base inflates the per cent; read it with the size in lots.

Used in: Options Scanner

Open Interest is contracts open now; volume is contracts traded. A trade can add volume and leave Open Interest unchanged.

Used in: Open Interest

The direction of price (premium for an option, price for a future) read together with the direction of Open Interest. Four names result: Long build-up, Short build-up, Short covering and Long unwinding. A dash means no earlier reading or no clear pattern.

Used in: Options Scanner, Open Interest Heatmap, Market Flow, Option Chain

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See also: Long build-up, Short build-up, Short covering, Long unwinding

Price up and Open Interest up: conventionally read as new long positions opening.

Used in: Option Chain, Open Interest Spurts, Open Interest

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See also: Short build-up

Price down and Open Interest up: conventionally read as new short positions opening.

Used in: Option Chain, Open Interest Spurts, Open Interest

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See also: Long build-up

Price up and Open Interest down: conventionally read as short positions closing.

Used in: Option Chain, Open Interest Spurts, Open Interest

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See also: Long unwinding

Price down and Open Interest down: conventionally read as long positions closing.

Used in: Option Chain, Open Interest Spurts, Open Interest

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See also: Short covering

The strike with the most Call Open Interest at or above the price. Where Call positions are heaviest, not a price that must hold. Not the same as a Call gamma wall.

Used in: Option Chain, PCR, Trader Cockpit

See also: Put wall, Call gamma wall and Put gamma wall

The strike with the most Put Open Interest at or below the price. Where Put positions are heaviest, not a price that must hold. Not the same as a Put gamma wall.

Used in: Option Chain, PCR, Trader Cockpit

See also: Call wall, Call gamma wall and Put gamma wall

On the Open Interest page: reference levels at the centre of the heaviest band of Put Open Interest (support) and of Call Open Interest (resistance). Reference levels, not prices that must hold.

Used in: Open Interest

See also: Call wall, Put wall

Contracts added in the selected window, drawn on the end of an Open Interest bar.

Used in: Open Interest

Put Call Ratio: Put Open Interest divided by Call Open Interest across the strikes in scope, printed to two decimals. Above 1 more Puts are open; below 1 more Calls. A ratio of positions, not a trade direction.

Used in: Option Chain, PCR, Trader Cockpit, Open Interest

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See also: PCR verdict

Put Open Interest ÷ Call Open Interest at one strike. Above 1.00 the strike is Put-heavy; below 1.00 it is Call-heavy.

Used in: Open Interest, Option Chain

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See also: PCR, Put-heavy, Call-heavy

A strike whose Strike PCR is above 1.00: more Put than Call Open Interest.

Used in: Open Interest

See also: Strike PCR

A strike whose Strike PCR is below 1.00: more Call than Put Open Interest.

Used in: Open Interest

See also: Strike PCR

Where the ratio sits against two lines: 1.03 or above reads Puts ahead, 0.97 or below reads Calls ahead, between them Balanced. It names where the ratio sits, not a forecast.

Used in: PCR

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See also: PCR

A dot on the PCR chart where the ratio changes side of 1.00.

Used in: PCR

See also: PCR

A contract whose Open Interest moved by at least the big-move bar in the window, measured against the book it started with.

Used in: Open Interest Spurts

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See also: Thin book

Premium change runs across, Open Interest change runs up; each corner is one build-up.

Used in: Open Interest Spurts

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See also: Build-up

A contract that began the window with 5000 contracts or fewer reads flat, not as a spike, because a small base makes any change look large.

Used in: Open Interest Spurts

See also: Spurt

On the Open Interest Heatmap, one strike at one time: the Open Interest figure, a build-up name and the change since the previous column.

Used in: Open Interest Heatmap

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On the Open Interest Heatmap, depth of colour compares tiles. In the default colouring it shows size, not change.

Used in: Open Interest Heatmap

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The column of strikes between the two wings of the heatmap. With one side shown it moves beside that side.

Used in: Open Interest Heatmap

The seller of an option, who collects the premium and takes on the obligation. Open Interest does not say whether a writer or a buyer opened a position.

The size of move an option's price implies for the underlying, as an annual per cent, solved backwards from the premium.

Used in: Implied Volatility, Option Chain, Options Scanner

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See also: ATM IV

The implied volatility at the forward-anchored at-the-money point, interpolated between the strikes either side so it does not jump.

Used in: Implied Volatility, Trader Cockpit

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See also: Implied Volatility (IV), Forward

One standard deviation (1 SD) implied by the ATM IV to expiry, in points. A pricing convention, not a forecast.

Used in: Implied Volatility

See also: ATM IV, Expected move

The underlying's typical day over its last 20 sessions, worked out from daily closes, to set beside the move the options price.

Used in: Implied Volatility

The share of the last 252 sessions whose IV closed below today's. It appears once 60 sessions of history exist.

Used in: Implied Volatility

See also: IV Rank

Where today's IV sits between the year's lowest and highest close, from 0 to 100. It waits for a full 252 sessions.

Used in: Implied Volatility

See also: IV Percentile

IV plotted strike by strike for one expiry. The at-the-money figure is one point on it.

Used in: Implied Volatility

Downside IV minus upside IV, in IV points.

Used in: Strategy Builder

How much an option's price moves for a one-rupee move in the underlying: 0 to 1 for a Call, 0 to −1 for a Put.

Used in: Option Chain, Options Scanner

See also: Gamma

A filter on how far from the money a leg sits: 0.50 is at the money and 0.15 is far out; 30 reads as 0.30.

Used in: Strategy Builder

See also: Delta

How fast Delta changes as the price moves. It is largest near the money and close to expiry.

Used in: Option Chain

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See also: Delta, GEX

How much premium an option loses in a day as time passes, all else equal.

Used in: Option Chain

See also: Time value

How much an option's price changes for a one-point move in Implied Volatility.

Used in: Option Chain

See also: Implied Volatility (IV)

How much an option's price changes for a one-point move in the interest rate. It matters least for short-dated options.

Used in: Option Chain

Gamma exposure: at each strike, Gamma × (Call Open Interest − Put Open Interest) × spot² × 0.01, in rupees of hedging per 1% move. Calls count positive, Puts negative. It rests on an assumption about who holds the options, which exchange data cannot confirm.

Used in: GEX Levels

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See also: Gamma flip, Call gamma wall and Put gamma wall

The price where the model's total gamma exposure changes sign, found by re-solving the book at other prices. Positive gamma is read as steadying, not as bullish; the flip is not a forecast.

Used in: GEX Levels, Trader Cockpit, Option Chain

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See also: GEX, Ladder cross

The strike above spot with the largest Call gamma exposure, and the strike below it with the largest Put gamma exposure. Where the modelled book is thick, not a price that must hold. Not the same as a Call wall or Put wall.

Used in: GEX Levels, Trader Cockpit

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See also: Call wall, Put wall

The strike where the running total of gamma exposure, added from the lowest strike upward, crosses zero. A different level from the gamma flip.

Used in: GEX Levels

See also: Gamma flip

Call and Put gamma exposure added rather than netted, so it does not depend on the assumption about who holds the options.

Used in: GEX Levels

See also: GEX

The strike with the largest gamma exposure when Calls and Puts are added as sizes: the most gamma on either side of the price. It does not depend on who holds the options.

Used in: GEX Levels

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See also: Both sides

Call and Put gamma exposure at a strike added as sizes, without sign, so no assumption about who holds them is made.

Used in: GEX Levels

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See also: Gamma concentration

On the Net view, the colour of each bar: a Call-dominant strike has more Call than Put gamma exposure, a Put-dominant strike the reverse.

Used in: GEX Levels

See also: GEX

The highest and lowest ATM IV readings of the session so far, drawn as dashed lines on the Intraday chart.

Used in: Implied Volatility

See also: ATM IV

A Call and a Put at the same strike and expiry.

Used in: Straddle

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See also: Straddle premium, Strangle

The Call price plus the Put price at the chosen strikes.

Used in: Straddle, Trader Cockpit, Open Interest Heatmap

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See also: Expected move

0.85 × the at-the-money straddle premium, either side of the strike: the range the option market is pricing to expiry. A pricing convention, not a forecast.

Used in: Straddle, Trader Cockpit, Option Chain, Open Interest Heatmap

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See also: Straddle premium, Priced move

The strike minus the straddle premium, and the strike plus it: the expiry levels where a buyer of both legs gets the premium back.

Used in: Straddle

See also: Breakeven

A Call and a Put at different strikes on the same expiry.

Used in: Straddle

See also: Straddle

The window's first premium scaled for the time left, with spot and volatility held at that first reading. A rule with two things frozen, not a forecast.

Used in: Straddle

The two Premium Decay baselines: change since the window opened, or change from the reading before.

Used in: Straddle

What the position is worth if the underlying ends at a given price on expiry day: exact arithmetic on intrinsic values.

Used in: Strategy Builder

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See also: Breakeven

A Black-Scholes estimate of the position before expiry, using each leg's own IV and a 6.5% annual rate. A model estimate, not a quoted price.

Used in: Strategy Builder

See also: Expiry payoff

An underlying price at expiry where the position's result is zero, after the entered costs.

Used in: Strategy Builder

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See also: Expiry payoff

States Defined risk, Unlimited risk or Mixed expiries, worked out from the legs at the highest strike.

Used in: Strategy Builder

Bought legs enter at the ask and sold legs at the bid, unless Customise sets the midpoint. Prices stay fixed until edited or repriced.

Used in: Strategy Builder

See also: Bid and ask

Lots set each leg; Quantity multiplies the whole basket.

Used in: Strategy Builder

See also: Lot size

A model estimate read from the chain's implied volatility near the money. It describes the model, not the market.

Used in: Strategy Builder

A position taken to offset the risk of another one, such as a Put held against a long position.

Used in: Strategy Builder

A position built from two or more options on one underlying, such as one strike bought and another sold, so that both the gain and the loss are capped.

Used in: Strategy Builder

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See also: Expiry payoff

The most a basket can lose at expiry, per basket. It is not margin.

Used in: Strategy Builder

Maximum profit divided by maximum loss. It says nothing about the chance of reaching either.

Used in: Strategy Builder

A debit basket costs money to open; a credit basket brings money in.

Used in: Strategy Builder

How far the sold strikes sit from spot, counted in expected moves.

Used in: Strategy Builder

See also: Expected move

Capital × the Risk budget %. Fits within budget counts how many of this basket its maximum loss lets the budget hold. Broker margin, when entered, gives the return on margin; the app does not work margin out.

Used in: Strategy Builder

See also: Maximum loss

Contracts trading far above usual: against yesterday's volume on the Day window, against today's own pace in a shorter window.

Used in: Options Scanner

Contracts whose volume today exceeded the Open Interest they started with.

Used in: Options Scanner

Where the most money traded: average traded price × contracts.

Used in: Options Scanner

The liquidity floor, premium × contracts in rupees lakh, applied last. It starts at 10 lakh.

Used in: Options Scanner

Open Interest % scans and Volume above Open Interest start from at least 50 lots; Top gainers and Top losers start from a premium of at least ₹2.

Used in: Options Scanner

On Market Flow: bullish when the future rose past the floor, bearish when it fell past it, rangebound inside it. The floor is the smallest move that counts as a direction: 0.5% on the Day window, 0.3% on 1h and 0.15% on 15m, unless Customise sets another.

Used in: Market Flow

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On Market Flow: a standing within the side, from how far the move ran against the others, how much Open Interest moved with it, and how many of the five checks hold.

Used in: Market Flow

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See also: Checks

On Market Flow: positions opened with the move; spot or the wider window agrees; the shorter window agrees; option writers added more on the side that holds; the sector leans the same way. A check that cannot be measured is left out, not failed.

Used in: Market Flow

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On Market Flow: the 15-minute stretch of the session's futures candles that added the most Open Interest while price moved the side's way, as a price range and the clock.

Used in: Market Flow

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On Market Flow: the strike with the heaviest Put Open Interest at or below spot, and the heaviest Call Open Interest at or above it, on the nearest expiry. Levels where positions are heaviest, not prices that must hold.

Used in: Market Flow

See also: Call wall, Put wall

The table of every strike for one underlying and one expiry: Calls on the left, the strike in the middle, Puts on the right.

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Open Interest at each strike as bars, with its change, the Strike PCR and Max Pain views.

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The contracts whose Open Interest moved most in a window, as a list of top moves or a rotation map.

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A grid of Open Interest across strikes and time, each tile shaded and named by its build-up.

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The Put Call Ratio through the session, with its verdict lines, Call wall, Put wall and Max Pain.

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The at-the-money straddle premium through the session, with the expected move and its breakevens.

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Gamma exposure by strike, with the gamma flip, the gamma walls and the ladder cross.

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ATM IV through the session, IV by strike, IV across expiries and its yearly history.

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Build a position leg by leg and read its payoff, breakevens, Greeks and probability of profit; the Finder scans ready-made strategies.

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Every traded contract and underlying on one list, sorted by what moved: price, Open Interest, build-up or volume.

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Every F&O underlying sorted into bullish, bearish and rangebound by its future's price and Open Interest.

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One screen that carries the chain and the other tools as widgets, side by side, for one underlying and expiry.

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