Methodology.

ZSIM Lab replays an options setup on a past NIFTY expiry, one 5-minute candle at a time. It is an indicative simulation for research and education. This page sets out the assumptions behind its numbers.

Where the rules are

The rules ZTEN's iron condor (DICS) follows are the defaults in the MyZTEN config panel. Anyone can read them there, with what each one means; a signed-in user can change every strategy parameter. A few structural rules, such as the entry times and the expiry chosen, are fixed and shown in the same panel.

Prices

• Recorded and modelled: where an option traded in a 5-minute bar, ZSIM Lab uses the recorded price. Where it did not, the last recorded price carries forward, or a modelled price fills the gap. The screen does not say which a given price is.
• Floors: a leg is never priced below its intrinsic value on NIFTY's close.
• Thin deep in-the-money legs: priced from the same strike's other side by put-call parity, when that side traded more.
• End-of-day data: ZSIM Lab replays past sessions only. It never shows today's prices.

Fills and exits

• An entry fills at the chosen bar's close, plus or minus the slippage you set, always against you.
• Exit rules are checked on bar closes, every 5 minutes or on ZTEN's 30-minute schedule, so an exit can land past its trigger.
• Legs still open at expiry settle at intrinsic value on NIFTY's last close.
• Every year uses today's NIFTY lot size of 65 units.

Charges

• Zerodha's charges on NSE index options at today's rates, applied to every year: brokerage ₹20 an order, STT 0.15% of premium on sells and of intrinsic value on long legs in the money at expiry, exchange charges 0.03553% of turnover, SEBI ₹10 a crore, GST 18% on brokerage, exchange and SEBI charges, and stamp duty 0.003% on buys.
• P&L is after charges. The payoff-at-expiry chart is before charges.

What it does not model

Order queues, market impact, spreads widening in fast markets, margin rejections and exchange or broker outages. Real trading can differ a great deal. Past results do not predict future ones, and none of this is investment advice.