The Greeks behind every strategy
Every options strategy is really a bet on the Greeks. A short straddle is a Theta-positive, Gamma-negative, Vega-short position; a calendar is a Vega play. These pages break down the Delta, Gamma, Theta and Vega profile of each strategy — so you know what you are actually long and short — with a payoff diagram and Nifty example.
Greeks by Strategy: Each options strategy has a characteristic Greek profile: buyers are long Gamma and Vega but pay Theta; sellers and income strategies (Iron Condor, short straddle) are short Gamma and Vega but collect Theta; spreads and calendars shape those exposures. Knowing a strategy's Greeks tells you exactly what moves it.
Long Call: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA long call is positive Delta, positive Gamma, positive Vega and negative Theta — you are long direction, long movement and long volatility, and you pay daily time decay for all of it.
Long Put: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA long put is negative Delta, positive Gamma, positive Vega and negative Theta — you are short direction but long movement and long volatility, paying daily time decay for downside protection or a bearish bet.
Covered Call: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA covered call — long stock or futures plus a short call — is net positive but reduced Delta, negative Gamma, positive Theta and negative Vega, converting an outright long into an income position that caps upside and collects time decay.
Covered Put: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA covered put — short stock or futures plus a short put — is net negative but reduced Delta, negative Gamma, positive Theta and negative Vega, an income trade on a bearish-to-neutral view that caps the downside profit and collects time decay.
Bull Spread: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA bull call spread — long a lower call, short a higher call — is net positive Delta with small and shifting Gamma, Theta and Vega, a defined-risk bullish trade whose secondary Greeks are largely neutralised by the short leg.
Bear Spread: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA bear put spread — long a higher put, short a lower put — is net negative Delta with small and shifting Gamma, Theta and Vega, a defined-risk bearish trade whose secondary Greeks are largely neutralised by the short leg.
Straddle: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA long straddle — buy the ATM call and ATM put together — is near-zero Delta, strongly positive Gamma, strongly positive Vega and heavily negative Theta, a pure bet on a big move and rising volatility that pays double time decay to hold.
Strangle: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA short strangle is short Gamma, short Vega and positive Theta — you sell an OTM call and an OTM put to collect decay while betting Nifty stays range-bound; a long strangle flips every sign.
Iron Condor: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksAn Iron Condor is short Gamma, short Vega and positive Theta with defined risk — it sells an OTM call spread and an OTM put spread to harvest decay while Nifty stays range-bound, with the long wings capping the loss.
Iron Butterfly: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksAn Iron Butterfly is short Gamma, short Vega and strongly positive Theta with defined risk — it sells an at-the-money straddle and buys OTM wings, collecting a fat credit that pays off only if Nifty pins near the centre strike.
Calendar Spread: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA calendar spread is long Vega and positive Theta at the same time — you sell a near-term option and buy a longer-dated option at the same strike, profiting from the faster decay of the front leg while staying long volatility.
Ratio Spread: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA ratio spread sells more options than it buys, so its Greeks flip beyond the short strikes — typically positive Theta and net short Gamma and short Vega, with an open tail of directional risk from the extra naked short.
Butterfly: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA long butterfly is positive Theta near the body and net short Gamma and short Vega there — a low-cost, defined-risk bet that Nifty pins the centre strike, built by buying the wings and selling twice the body.
Broken Wing Butterfly: Greek Profile
Strategy GreeksA broken wing butterfly is a skewed butterfly — often entered for a credit — that keeps the positive Theta and short Vega of a normal butterfly while shifting the risk entirely to one side by widening the far wing.