A sold strangle keeps its premium only between two breakevens
Here is a seller's payoff on one pair from the 10 Jun 2026 chain: a call and a put sold far enough from the index that both look safe. The chart shows the zone where the seller keeps the whole premium, and the losses outside it.
The seller keeps the premium if the index settles between the two breakevens. Outside them the loss grows with every point, and on the call side it has no ceiling. The buyer of the same pair holds the mirror image. The loss is capped at the premium paid, and the gain can run on.
Win rate is how often a trade makes money. Expectancy is what an average trade makes: the win rate times the average win, minus the loss rate times the average loss, less costs. A seller who wins most trades can still lose money if one losing trade costs more than all the premium collected on the trades before it.
Costs apply to both sides. From 1 Apr 2026 the STT on an option sale is 0.15% of premium, and the STT on an exercised option is also 0.15%, charged on its intrinsic value.
SEBI's study of FY26 shows where the money went. It found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity F&O made a net loss, with an aggregate net loss of Rs 91,685 crore. Options trading accounted for 92% of individual losses. The study counts traders by their net result for the year, not trade by trade, so it cannot settle the question alone.
The question is about the trade, not the trader. Ask what the payoff looks like, what the costs are, and what the average result is after every loss. The payoff builder below draws both sides of any pair.
Before you trade. Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss. SEBI's study "Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25 to FY26)" (August 2026) found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity F&O made net losses in FY26, with aggregate net losses of Rs 91,685 crore. Read the SEBI study