Intraday jade lizard
A jade lizard sells an out-of-the-money put and an out-of-the-money call, and buys a call further out to cap the upside. This intraday version opens one on the nearest NIFTY weekly expiry at 09:20, closes it on a very small gain or loss measured against the credit collected, and then opens a fresh one, up to three times a day.How it trades
Results
PRE-BUILT · DEFAULTSWhere it made and lost money
Before costs every session type made a little money, but some far more than others. In this test, 198 trades on choppy days earned ₹12,622, the most of any session type: wide swings pushed the position's value past its tiny 5% target often enough. Quiet sessions with a range under 0.75% made only ₹1,286 over 324 trades, because small noise reached the 3% stop more often than the target. Gap-down opens were the weak spot, at −₹380 over 120 trades with a 35% win rate, since a falling market hurts the unhedged short put. Fridays (₹9,401) did best among weekdays, and expiry days made just ₹1,366. After costs, every condition lost.
About this strategy
- At 09:20, on the nearest NIFTY weekly expiry, sell the call one strike above ATM, buy the call two strikes above ATM, and sell the put one strike below ATM, one lot each.
- Note the net credit: the two premiums sold minus the premium paid for the bought call. Skip the day if there is no credit.
- Close the whole position when its value has improved by 5% of that credit (target) or worsened by 3% of it (stop), checked on every price print.
- After a target or stop, wait 60 seconds and open a fresh lizard around the new ATM strike.
- Allow at most two re-entries a day and none after 14:30.
- Close whatever is still open at 15:15.
Why traders use it
The structure leans bullish to neutral: the bought call limits the damage from a sharp rally, so most of the risk sits on the put side. Traders like it because it collects premium on both sides while defining the upside loss. This version goes further and treats the lizard as a scalp, banking a small, frequent move in the position's value rather than waiting for the day's time decay, and re-entering to repeat the attempt.
The year in plain words
On NIFTY from 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 with default settings, the strategy made 735 trades and won only 41% of them, but average wins (₹407) were larger than average losses (₹236), giving ₹20,523 before costs and a profit factor of 1.20. Every trade ended on its target (302) or its stop (433). Profits came mostly before June; July to September each lost a little. Costs reverse the picture: with ₹20 per order and bid-ask slippage on three legs, several times a day, the result is a loss of ₹1,00,143. The per-trade edge is far smaller than the cost of trading it.
What the settings do
Risks
- The target and stop are only a few rupees per lot, so bid-ask spreads alone can trigger exits and turn the strategy cost-driven.
- Up to nine orders per entry-and-exit cycle, repeated three times a day, multiply brokerage and slippage.
- The short put is not hedged, so a sharp fall can produce a loss far beyond the 3% stop if prices gap past it.
- Results assume fills at the trigger level on every print, which is hard to match with real orders.
Who it suits
Traders studying how multi-leg structures behave intraday, or those with very low trading costs exploring scalping with defined upside risk. It needs margin for the short put and fast, automated execution.
Questions traders ask
What is a jade lizard option strategy?
A jade lizard combines a short out-of-the-money put with a short call spread: sell an OTM call and buy a call further out. The bought call caps losses on a rally. If the total credit is at least the gap between the call strikes, the trade has no loss on the upside, leaving the downside as the main risk.
Is the intraday jade lizard profitable?
In this backtest on NIFTY from 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 it made ₹20,523 before costs with a maximum drawdown of ₹5,619, but lost ₹1,00,143 after ₹20 per order and bid-ask slippage (statutory charges not included). Past results do not guarantee future ones.
Why does such a small stop matter so much?
The stop is 3% of the net credit, which on NIFTY works out to a few rupees per lot. The gap between bid and ask on three options can be that large on its own, so the position can look like it hit the stop just from where it is priced, not from a real market move.
How is this different from an intraday short strangle?
A short strangle sells an OTM call and put with no protection. The jade lizard adds a bought call further out, so the loss on a rally is capped and the position leans neutral to bullish. Here the exits are also tied to the net credit rather than the time of day.