u/Terrible-Title-3603

​

Another ugly day for NIFTY. It continued lower and breached an important support level.

I adjusted the CE side today as the market moved further down. The position is currently around -₹1.4k MTM, with about ₹1.6L capital being used for the IC.

One thing I want to clarify for the journal: today I also took some speculative trades in the same account and made around ₹13k from them. I normally take these bets in another account, but this time they were done here. So when I calculate the October journal P&L, I’ll remove those trades completely. I only want the IC performance reflected in this journal.

For the IC itself, I'm still keeping the position small because the market is uncertain. There’s a possibility we see some relief next week, which could give me a better exit opportunity.

For now, no need to force anything. Manage the position, follow the rules and let the market come to us.

Let's see what next week brings. 👀

​

Finally closed this one today at around -₹1.8k.

As I said yesterday, I was ready to take a ₹2–3k loss if the market gave me the opportunity. And honestly, I'm much happier taking that loss than sitting there praying for the position to recover.

The important part is that if I had ignored my rules and continued holding, this could've turned into a much bigger loss. The whole point of this journal is learning when to walk away instead of trying to squeeze every last rupee out of a trade.

Small controlled loss, fresh start.

Now moving into the 13 Oct expiry with a fresh 1-lot IC. Currently around -₹588 MTM, with ~₹5.5k max profit and expiry breakevens around 22,116–23,284.

New expiry, new trade. Let's see how this one plays out. 👀

Also I'm mentally so relaxed to close that position i cannot explain here, following your rules are the most important thing. I mean it couldn't get any better you know the way I exited the trade that timing mann 😛, it's actually 3rd or 4th time since i started this journal the exit made me profitable 🙂‍↕️

​

Finally closed this one today at around -₹1.8k.

As I said yesterday, I was ready to take a ₹2–3k loss if the market gave me the opportunity. And honestly, I'm much happier taking that loss than sitting there praying for the position to recover.

The important part is that if I had ignored my rules and continued holding, this could've turned into a much bigger loss. The whole point of this journal is learning when to walk away instead of trying to squeeze every last rupee out of a trade.

Small controlled loss, fresh start.

Now moving into the 13 Oct expiry with a fresh 1-lot IC. Currently around -₹588 MTM, with ~₹5.5k max profit and expiry breakevens around 22,116–23,284.

New expiry, new trade. Let's see how this one plays out. 👀

Also I'm mentally so relaxed to close that position i cannot explain here, following your rules are the most important thing. I mean it couldn't get any better you know the way I exited the trade that timing mann 😛, it's actually 3rd or 4th time since i started this journal the exit made me profitable 🙂‍↕️

​

Finally closed this one today at around -₹1.8k.

As I said yesterday, I was ready to take a ₹2–3k loss if the market gave me the opportunity. And honestly, I'm much happier taking that loss than sitting there praying for the position to recover.

The important part is that if I had ignored my rules and continued holding, this could've turned into a much bigger loss. The whole point of this journal is learning when to walk away instead of trying to squeeze every last rupee out of a trade.

Small controlled loss, fresh start.

Now moving into the 13 Oct expiry with a fresh 1-lot IC. Currently around -₹588 MTM, with ~₹5.5k max profit and expiry breakevens around 22,116–23,284.

New expiry, new trade. Let's see how this one plays out. 👀

Also I'm mentally so relaxed to close that position i cannot explain here, following your rules are the most important thing. I mean it couldn't get any better you know the way I exited the trade that timing mann 😛, it's actually 3rd or 4th time since i started this journal the exit made me profitable 🙂‍↕️

​

Today was ugly. Really ugly. 😭

NIFTY went crazy on the downside in the morning and at one point I was sitting around -₹13k MTM.

Honestly, I was seriously thinking about making a heavy adjustment and basically abandoning my predefined rules.

Then I remembered what happened in my previous trade when I didn't stick to my rules.

So I did nothing.

And thankfully, NIFTY recovered pretty well from the morning bloodbath. The price action also started showing some signs of a pullback, which helped the position recover significantly.

Current position:

P&L: -₹4,453

Delta: +25

Theta: +983

Vega: -1,377

Expiry breakevens: 22,701 – 23,333

Max profit: ₹12,877

And honestly, I think sticking to the rules saved me today.

I might still close this position at a loss. If I can get out around -₹2–3k, I'm perfectly fine taking it.

Could I potentially hold this till expiry and make a much better return? Yes.

But I don't want to.

I'd rather close it, take the loss if necessary, and deploy the capital into another expiry where I can trade it without carrying unnecessary stress.

That's probably one of the biggest lessons I'm learning from this journal:

You don't need to extract the maximum possible profit from every position.

Sometimes the best trade is simply getting out, accepting the result and waiting for the next opportunity.

For now, the position looks manageable as long as we don't get another major move tomorrow.

Let's see. 👀

​

Today was ugly. Really ugly. 😭

NIFTY went crazy on the downside in the morning and at one point I was sitting around -₹13k MTM.

Honestly, I was seriously thinking about making a heavy adjustment and basically abandoning my predefined rules.

Then I remembered what happened in my previous trade when I didn't stick to my rules.

So I did nothing.

And thankfully, NIFTY recovered pretty well from the morning bloodbath. The price action also started showing some signs of a pullback, which helped the position recover significantly.

Current position:

P&L: -₹4,453

Delta: +25

Theta: +983

Vega: -1,377

Expiry breakevens: 22,701 – 23,333

Max profit: ₹12,877

And honestly, I think sticking to the rules saved me today.

I might still close this position at a loss. If I can get out around -₹2–3k, I'm perfectly fine taking it.

Could I potentially hold this till expiry and make a much better return? Yes.

But I don't want to.

I'd rather close it, take the loss if necessary, and deploy the capital into another expiry where I can trade it without carrying unnecessary stress.

That's probably one of the biggest lessons I'm learning from this journal:

You don't need to extract the maximum possible profit from every position.

Sometimes the best trade is simply getting out, accepting the result and waiting for the next opportunity.

For now, the position looks manageable as long as we don't get another major move tomorrow.

Let's see. 👀

​

Today was ugly. Really ugly. 😭

NIFTY went crazy on the downside in the morning and at one point I was sitting around -₹13k MTM.

Honestly, I was seriously thinking about making a heavy adjustment and basically abandoning my predefined rules.

Then I remembered what happened in my previous trade when I didn't stick to my rules.

So I did nothing.

And thankfully, NIFTY recovered pretty well from the morning bloodbath. The price action also started showing some signs of a pullback, which helped the position recover significantly.

Current position:

P&L: -₹4,453

Delta: +25

Theta: +983

Vega: -1,377

Expiry breakevens: 22,701 – 23,333

Max profit: ₹12,877

And honestly, I think sticking to the rules saved me today.

I might still close this position at a loss. If I can get out around -₹2–3k, I'm perfectly fine taking it.

Could I potentially hold this till expiry and make a much better return? Yes.

But I don't want to.

I'd rather close it, take the loss if necessary, and deploy the capital into another expiry where I can trade it without carrying unnecessary stress.

That's probably one of the biggest lessons I'm learning from this journal:

You don't need to extract the maximum possible profit from every position.

Sometimes the best trade is simply getting out, accepting the result and waiting for the next opportunity.

For now, the position looks manageable as long as we don't get another major move tomorrow.

Let's see. 👀

​

Today was easily the worst day for this trade so far.

I've had a bad feeling about this position since the start, and today it finally showed 😂

NIFTY opened around -₹600 MTM for me and within the first 15 minutes it went to almost -₹7k. There wasn't much I could do immediately without just panic-adjusting.

After some time, I added another lot thinking the market probably wouldn't fall much further from there.

Yeah… that aged well 😂

NIFTY kept falling.

Current position:

P&L: -₹5,697

Delta: +19

Theta: +825

Vega: -1,262

Max profit: ₹11,902

Max loss: -₹46,599

Expiry breakevens: 22,708 – 23,392

The biggest issue now is time. There are only 4 trading sessions this week, so I don't have a huge amount of room to sit around waiting for the position to recover.

The main risk I'm watching now is a whipsaw. After such a sharp downside move, I don't want to start making random adjustments just because the MTM looks ugly.

I think there's a decent chance I'll have to carry this into next Monday and let the position develop rather than forcing an exit/adjustment.

And honestly, this is exactly why I'm documenting these trades.

The entry wasn't perfect.

The management wasn't perfect.

And today definitely wasn't pretty.

Let's see how this one plays out. 👀

​

Today was easily the worst day for this trade so far.

I've had a bad feeling about this position since the start, and today it finally showed 🙂

NIFTY opened around -₹600 MTM for me and within the first 15 minutes it went to almost -₹7k. There wasn't much I could do immediately without just panic-adjusting.

After some time, I added another lot thinking the market probably wouldn't fall much further from there.

Yeah… that aged well 😂

NIFTY kept falling.

Current position:

P&L: -₹5,697

Delta: +19

Theta: +825

Vega: -1,262

Max profit: ₹11,902

Max loss: -₹46,599

Expiry breakevens: 22,708 – 23,392

The biggest issue now is time. There are only 4 trading sessions this week, so I don't have a huge amount of room to sit around waiting for the position to recover.

The main risk I'm watching now is a whipsaw. After such a sharp downside move, I don't want to start making random adjustments just because the MTM looks ugly.

I think there's a decent chance I'll have to carry this into next Monday and let the position develop rather than forcing an exit/adjustment.

And honestly, this is exactly why I'm documenting these trades.

The entry wasn't perfect.

The management wasn't perfect.

And today definitely wasn't pretty.

Let's see how this one plays out. 👀

​

Okay, finally getting around to posting this one.

This trade was actually entered on Wednesday morning, with both lots. Looking back, I probably should've waited until EOD to enter another lot but I did both in morning— the position would've been in a much better shape. That's probably the biggest mistake on this trade so far.

On Thursday, NIFTY moved down and I made one adjustment to the position. After that, Friday was pretty uneventful, so there was no reason to make another adjustment.

Currently:

P&L: ~-₹267

Max profit: ~₹6.6k

Max loss: ~₹32.3k

Expiry breakevens: 22,749 – 23,651

Delta: 0

Theta: +574

Vega: -1,324

So overall, I'm still pretty comfortable with the position. Could've definitely been positioned better if I had waited on Wednesday, but that's trading — you don't get perfect entries every time.

One thing I want to clarify for the journal: I'm considering this the start of my October journal because we're trading the October expiry. So from now on, I'll calculate the monthly P&L starting from 24 September, and it'll run until I exit the final October-expiry trade.

Basically, I'm defining my “month” by the expiry I'm trading, not the calendar month. 😂

Hopefully that clears it up so y'all don't think October suddenly got 37 days. 😭

Let's see how this one plays out.

​

Okay, finally getting around to posting this one.

This trade was actually entered on Wednesday morning, with both lots. Looking back, I probably should've waited until EOD to enter another lot but I did both in the morning — the position would've been in a much better shape. That's probably the biggest mistake on this trade so far.

On Thursday, NIFTY moved down and I made one adjustment to the position. After that, Friday was pretty uneventful, so there was no reason to make another adjustment.

Currently:

P&L: ~-₹267

Max profit: ~₹6.6k

Max loss: ~₹32.3k

Expiry breakevens: 22,749 – 23,651

Delta: 0

Theta: +574

Vega: -1,324

So overall, I'm still pretty comfortable with the position. Could've definitely been positioned better if I had waited on Wednesday, but that's trading — you don't get perfect entries every time.

One thing I want to clarify for the journal: I'm considering this the start of my October journal because we're trading the October expiry. So from now on, I'll calculate the monthly P&L starting from 24 September, and it'll run until I exit the final October-expiry trade.

Basically, I'm defining my “month” by the expiry I'm trading, not the calendar month. 😂

Hopefully that clears it up so y'all don't think October suddenly got 37 days. 😭

Let's see how this one plays out.

​

Finally, the monthly numbers are here.

September closed at +₹9,263.95 net P&L, which is around +3.7% on the ₹2.5L capital I was using for this journal.

One thing I found interesting: in my last two trades, I only had around ₹1.6L and ₹80k deployed, respectively, and still managed to generate a decent return on the capital I was actually using.

The biggest takeaway this month wasn't the P&L though.

If you've been following the journal, you'll have noticed that I exited just before major catalyst events multiple times. Doing it once could easily be luck. But doing it three times in the same month, after watching the market and following my predefined rules, I don't think it's just luck.

It's experience + following the rules + presence of mind, and probably most importantly, being satisfied with the profit instead of trying to squeeze every last rupee out of the trade.

Maybe 3.7% sounds like a rookie number to an option buyer chasing huge returns 😂, but for me, generating that while managing volatility, uncertainty and risk is more important than having a crazy P&L screenshot.

Also, I entered the next trade today because I saw a good opportunity. VIX moved sharply higher and NIFTY ended down 1.64%, so in hindsight I probably should've waited a little longer before entering. India VIX also jumped more than 20% today.

But that's for the October journal.

For this journal, September is officially closed.

Whenever I switch to a new expiry/month, I'll consider the previous month complete.

Let's see what the next month brings. 👀

​

Sorry for the late update guys, was travelling and barely got time to post yesterday. 😅

Quick update: I closed the previous 2-lot IC on Monday morning, then entered the next trade with just 1 lot. But I ended up closing that one too after VIX cooled off, booking around +0.85%.

At this point, I think that's enough for me this month, so I probably won't take another trade unless I get a setup that I genuinely like. No point trading just for the sake of having something to post.

Tomorrow I'll finally post the much-awaited broker-verified monthly P&L 📊 — that'll most probably wrap up this month's journal.

I'll most likely start trading again next week.

Until then, hope you guys have enjoyed following the journey so far. If you have any questions, doubts, or anything you want me to cover, drop them below. 👇

​

Another completely normal day.🫡

No major adjustment today, just one adjustment on the PE side to make the condor slightly asymmetric.

Current position:

💰 MTM: +₹2,945

🎯 Max Profit: ₹7,875

📉 Max Loss: -₹31,125

📍 Expiry Breakevens: 22,839 – 23,861

⚖️ Delta: 0

⏳ Theta: +481

🔥 Decay: +1,434

📉 Vega: -1,148

India VIX dropped another 7.36% today, closing at 11.39

I made the PE-side adjustment because, based on the current setup and the event risk I'm watching, I feel the downside risk is relatively lower than the upside risk, so I’m comfortable making the condor slightly asymmetric.

The interesting part is that even after the adjustment, the overall position is sitting at Delta 0, which is pretty much where I want it right now.

Currently sitting at almost ₹3k profit, so let's see what the weekend brings.

Another day where doing nothing was mostly the job.

Tomorrow I’ll probably make a few posts about some other things I have in mind rather than just another P&L update.

How are you guys finding this journey so far?

What would you actually like me to cover next?

Let's see where this journal goes. 👀

​

Another boring day. And honestly, that’s exactly what I want. 😂

No adjustment required today.

This time I’m trading only 2 lots, keeping the position smaller and easier to manage.

📊 Current MTM: +₹1,219

🎯 Max Profit: ~₹7,225

📈 Delta: -1

⏳ Theta: +474

💰 Decay: +361

📉 Vega: -1,116

My plan is simple: book around 40–50% of the max profit rather than trying to squeeze every last rupee out of the trade.

The current position is sitting comfortably within the defined range, so for now there’s nothing to adjust. An Iron Condor is basically about letting the structure do its job when price stays within the range

Now the bigger question 👇

From next month, should I continue this Iron Condor journal and go deeper into adjustments, Greeks, entries/exits, IV, etc.?

Or should I start a completely different options strategy from Day 1 and document that journey too?

I’m leaning towards making this more than just a P&L journal — actually showing how the strategy is managed trade by trade.

What would you guys prefer?

​

Another boring day. And honestly, that’s exactly what I want. 😂

No adjustment required today.

This time I’m trading only 2 lots, keeping the position smaller and easier to manage.

📊 Current MTM: +₹1,219

🎯 Max Profit: ~₹7,225

📈 Delta: -1

⏳ Theta: +474

💰 Decay: +361

📉 Vega: -1,116

My plan is simple: book around 40–50% of the max profit rather than trying to squeeze every last rupee out of the trade.

The current position is sitting comfortably within the defined range, so for now there’s nothing to adjust. An Iron Condor is basically about letting the structure do its job when price stays within the range.

Now the bigger question 👇

From next month, should I continue this Iron Condor journal and go deeper into adjustments, Greeks, entries/exits, IV, etc.?

Or should I start a completely different options strategy from Day 1 and document that journey too?

I’m leaning towards making this more than just a P&L journal — actually showing how the strategy is managed trade by trade.

What would you guys prefer?

​

Today was honestly boring.

And that's exactly what I want.

I entered with a third lot today, but then realised the Fed interest-rate meeting is delayed, so I decided not to carry that additional exposure and closed that lot again. I'll reassess tomorrow.

Apart from that, no major adjustment today.

The only structural change I made was bringing one of the CE hedge legs closer, which made the condor more symmetrical. The position is now sitting at around delta-neutral.

Current snapshot:

NIFTY: 23,217.6

Total P&L: -₹686

Booked P&L: +₹1,342

Unbooked P&L: -₹2,028

Delta: +1.3

Vega: -1,020

Total decay: ~₹320

Expiry breakevens: 22,794 – 23,856

Now we wait.

And honestly, this is something I've started appreciating more and more with option selling:

The more boring the trade feels, the better. 😂

There's no adrenaline.

No staring at candles every 30 seconds.

No “NIFTY is going up, BUY CE!!”

No dopamine hit from watching an option double in 10 minutes.

It's just:

Build → manage → wait → let time do its thing.

Option buying definitely has more kick. 😂 But that's not the objective here.

The objective is to build a process that doesn't require me to be right about every single market move.

And here's the nasty part:

If you need excitement from your trades, this strategy will probably bore the shit out of you.

That's actually the point.

I'm not looking for a trade that makes me feel like a genius.

I want a trade that makes me feel absolutely nothing.

Let's see what tomorrow brings. 👀

Not financial advice — documenting my own trade and thought process.

​

Today was honestly boring.

And that's exactly what I want.

I entered with a third lot today, but then realised the Fed interest-rate meeting is delayed, so I decided not to carry that additional exposure and closed that lot again. I'll reassess tomorrow.

Apart from that, no major adjustment today.

The only structural change I made was bringing one of the CE hedge legs closer, which made the condor more symmetrical. The position is now sitting at around delta-neutral.

Current snapshot:

NIFTY: 23,217.6

Total P&L: -₹686

Booked P&L: +₹1,342

Unbooked P&L: -₹2,028

Delta: +1.3

Vega: -1,020

Total decay: ~₹320

Expiry breakevens: 22,794 – 23,856

Now we wait.

And honestly, this is something I've started appreciating more and more with option selling:

The more boring the trade feels, the better. 😂

There's no adrenaline.

No staring at candles every 30 seconds.

No “NIFTY is going up, BUY CE!!”

No dopamine hit from watching an option double in 10 minutes.

It's just:

Build → manage → wait → let time do its thing.

Option buying definitely has more kick. 😂 But that's not the objective here.

The objective is to build a process that doesn't require me to be right about every single market move.

And here's the nasty part:

If you need excitement from your trades, this strategy will probably bore the shit out of you.

That's actually the point.

I'm not looking for a trade that makes me feel like a genius.

I want a trade that makes me feel absolutely nothing.

Let's see what tomorrow brings. 👀

Not financial advice — documenting my own trade and thought process.