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Understand the vocabulary before you practise. Everything here is education — no recommendations, no calls, no targets.
A future is an agreement to buy or sell a fixed quantity of something on a set future date. Both sides are committed, so the gain or loss moves one-for-one with the price.
An option gives the buyer a choice, not an obligation. The buyer pays a premium for that choice; the seller receives the premium and takes on the obligation.
A call option is the right to buy at a fixed price. Its value tends to rise when the underlying rises.
A put option is the right to sell at a fixed price. Its value tends to rise when the underlying falls.
Buying an option risks the premium paid. Selling an option can lose far more than the premium received, which is why exchanges demand margin from sellers.
The strike is the fixed price written into the contract. Contracts are listed at many strikes around the current price.
In the money: exercising would have value today. At the money: the strike sits closest to the current price. Out of the money: exercising would have no value today.
In the simulator's option chain the at-the-money row is highlighted, so you can see how premiums change as you move away from it.
Every contract has a last day. Index options commonly list weekly expiries; stock derivatives are usually monthly.
As expiry approaches, the part of an option's premium that pays for time shrinks — quickly in the final days. A contract can lose value even when the underlying barely moves.
Derivatives trade in lots, not single shares. One lot is a fixed number of units set by the exchange, so the smallest possible position is already sizeable.
An option buyer pays premium × lot size. A future or a sold option requires margin — money blocked while the position is open.
In the simulator, all of this is calculated on the server with virtual money, exactly as the contract specifies.
How much the option price moves for a one-rupee move in the underlying.
In practice: A delta near 0.5 means the premium moves roughly half as fast as the stock or index.
How quickly delta itself changes as the underlying moves.
In practice: High gamma near expiry is why at-the-money options swing so violently on the last days.
The value an option loses with each passing day, all else equal.
In practice: Buyers pay theta; it works against a position that simply waits.
How much the premium changes when expected volatility changes.
In practice: Premiums can fall after a big event even if the price moved your way, because expected volatility collapsed.
Sensitivity to interest rates.
In practice: Usually the smallest effect for short-dated Indian contracts.
VIA Capital is an education platform. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation. Derivatives carry a high risk of loss; practise with virtual money first.
Practise in the simulator