01Cold open: the oil trigger fired on expiry day
Today is the expiry day, and Brent has crossed 90 dollars overnight, making a high of 91.35. The trigger we called 8 episodes ago fired this morning, and today is the expiry.
6,61,000 puts have been sold by the clients, a third consecutive record naked put book. IV jumped almost 25 percent yesterday, and the expiry IV woke up today at the support. So today is the expiry day, somebody wins at 3:30.
02The staircase: fifth straight lower close
The Nifty closed 78 points lower, 0.32 percent, at 24,287, with a high of 24,360 and a low of 24,226. A fifth straight lower close. And look at the flow, 24,472 five days ago, then 24,436, then 24,396, then 24,366, then 24,288 yesterday. A staircase down, almost 45 to 50 points every day.
The Sensex closed 281 points lower at 77,728 with a low of 77,454. VIX was up almost a percent to 11.4. Breadth was 18 up and 31 down, almost 2 to 3. IT was down 1.75 percent with Infosys down 2.66 and HCL down 2.53, FMCG down 1 percent, while Realty was up 1.46 and Metal up 1.26. Small caps were green, so the broader market is still showing strength.
03Yesterday's grade: direction wrong, vol right
Buy on dips went wrong. The dip sliced towards 24,227, so the 24,300 stop worked and the exit rule worked. And one thing that worked was IV, which got a jump of almost 25 percent.
So direction was wrong, vol was right. I will take a 2 on 5 on that.
04The flows: the second 5,000 crore cheque in three sessions
FII cash saw 2,535 crore of selling yesterday, whereas the DIIs bought 5,101 crore, the second 5,000 crore cheque in three sessions. That is a big one. FII index options bought 8,423 crore in one day, so they are buying the protection at full throttle. And FII index futures shorts grew to 1.82 lakh, a new cycle high for August.
And the crowd, you can see the numbers yourself. 5.74 lakh puts short, then 6.08 lakh, and yesterday 6.61 lakh. Three consecutive records in the naked short put book. 53,000 puts added on Monday into a falling knife, one night before oil crossed 90. The first record burned at 24,266 on the 12th, and they have built it twice since, bigger each time. Let's see whether the clients can hold those naked puts.
05Positioning: long vol both legs into the expiry
The pros are long 1.26 lakh calls and long 1.12 lakh puts, which means they are long vol on both legs into the expiry. The IV spike overnight has already paid that book, but the loop keeps working and they are carrying it.
The FIIs are long 5.02 lakh puts, crossing 5 lakh for the first time this month, and they covered around 50,000 call shorts, so even the hedges respect the upside tail.
06The board: max pain above spot for once
Max pain sits around 24,350, so 24,350 to 400 is the zone, and the market is 62 points below the magnet. Support is 24,300 with 1.35 crore puts, 33 lakh added yesterday, the single biggest strike of the defensive bulls. Support two is 24,250 with 83 lakh puts, and almost half of that, 43.5 lakh, was added yesterday, the biggest add we saw. Then 24,200 at 1.04 crore, and the base at 24,000 with 1.14 crore.
Resistance starts at 24,350 with 71 lakh calls after a 31 lakh add, then 24,400 with 1.05 crore, and 24,500 is the biggest at 1.25 crore calls written. Put writers added one crore contracts between 24,200 and 24,300 in a single day, a great support created. PCR is almost flat at 0.92. The straddle is roughly 125, the 24,300 strike trading 131, giving a range of about 160 points either side, a box of roughly 24,150 to 24,400. Below 24,350 is negative gamma territory where moves amplify.
07The plan: the long put spread
The battlefield is roughly 24,200 to 400, so we have 200 points to play for. Max pain above spot for once. Reclaim 24,350 and the pin can settle, below 24,350 we see a trending move, and lose 24,250 and the crowd's 6.6 lakh naked puts are the fuel, with 24,000 possible. Do not rule out a trending move today. Oil above 91 gives the downside the benefit of the doubt, the standing rule.
The vol model says buy the IV, do not sell it, own it in small risk. So we play the same direction, buy on dips remains, through a long spread. Buy the 24,300 put and sell the 24,500 in the money put. The spread trades at a credit of 127, expected to sell around 135 to 140, stop loss 160. A 20 point stop for a 60 point target, a one is to three trade, expecting a bounce to 24,400. If it goes below 160 do not carry it, exit and stay on the sidelines. 24,100 is the first buy zone and 24,000 the final one. Keep position sizing right.