TradeMate: Multi-Expiry Option Chain Trading Software

The option chain is where you trade. It shows one index and one expiry, both picked from the tile at the top left. Each row shows the call on the left, the strike in the middle and the put on the right. A Combined band on the right shows both legs of the row together.

It has three modes:

Mode	What each row holds
Straddle	The call and the put at the same strike
Strangle	A call strike and a put strike the same distance either side of ATM
Custom	A call strike and a put strike you choose yourself, row by row

range sets how many strikes show either side of the ATM row, from 0 to 200. The default is 10. It used to be two boxes, one for above and one for below. It is a single number now, and it is used both ways.
In Strangle mode the chain lists only the strikes below ATM. A strangle is a call and a put either side of the money. So the row you pick is a distance, not a single strike. Listing both halves of the ladder only made the list twice as long.
The chain does not re-centre by itself, so rows never jump under your mouse. Press ATM ⟳ to bring the ladder back to the live ATM.
The ATM row is highlighted and in-the-money cells are shaded.
In Straddle mode, thin Spot and Syn Fut lines show where the live spot and the synthetic future sit between two strikes.
A small green or red pill next to a strike shows your open quantity there.
The chain names the index and expiry its rows belong to, above the strike column. It changes only when the new rows arrive, so it always describes the prices you are looking at.
While you are switching to another index or expiry, a LOADING strip says which one is on its way. The rows you can still see are dimmed. The order buttons stay off until the new prices land.
Prices update live. If the feed drops, a banner says the values may be old until it reconnects.

Columns. LTP and Strike always show. You can show or hide Buy, Sell, RB, PNL, Exit, Move, Qty and Delta for each leg, and Buy, Sell, RB, LTP, Exit, Net Qty, PNL and Qty for the combined pair. A call column always shows with its put partner.

// OPTION CHAIN
One-click orders from the chain
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Every row has its own buttons.
B and S on a call or put buy or sell that contract.
B and S in the Combined band buy or sell both legs of the row together. That is a straddle, a strangle or your custom pair in one click.
EXIT closes your whole open position in that contract. Combined EXIT closes both legs.
Quantity is in units and must be a whole number of lots. The toolbar Qty sets the default for each index. You can change the quantity on any single row. A value that is not a lot multiple, or is above your Max qty / order, turns red and blocks that button.
Product and price come from Settings. Each index has its own product (MIS or NRML) and its own limit-price rules.
Buying against a short. If you buy a contract you are short in, the buy closes that quantity first. If that position has a stop loss resting at your broker, TradeMate changes the stop order into the exit instead of placing a second order.
Orders go out as soon as you click. There is no extra confirmation step on chain orders.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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// OPTION CHAIN
Hedge on sell
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Tick Hedge in the chain toolbar and set a distance, from 1 to 99 strikes. The default is 5.
Now every sell does two things, in this order:
It buys the same type of option, that many strikes further out of the money, for the same quantity.
Then it sells the contract you clicked.
The Sell buttons change to S+B so you can see Hedge is on. A combined sell hedges both legs.
TradeMate then keeps the pair together:
Adding to a hedged short buys more hedge first. If the sell then fails, the extra hedge is undone.
Exiting the short also exits its hedge in the same proportion.
Act on the short and the hedge keeps step with it.
You can also act on the hedge leg by itself. Exit it, add to it or move it from the position book, the same as any other row. TradeMate allows it and keeps its own record in step.
One thing to be clear about. The hedge is what limits the loss on that short. Exit it on its own and the short is left uncovered, so do it only when you mean to.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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// OPTION CHAIN
Move your shorts to a strike
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The Move column in the chain has two buttons on each side.
1 moves all of your other short positions on that side to this row's strike.
1/2 moves half of each of them.
"That side" means the same option type (CE or PE), index, product and expiry. Each position is closed and opened again at the new strike, one at a time. Large quantities are split into slices that fit the exchange limit.
Move works on short positions only. If there is nothing to move, you see No other sell positions to move.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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// OPTION CHAIN
Keyboard trading
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You can work the chain from the keyboard.
Arrow keys move between cells.
Enter on a Qty cell confirms the quantity.
You choose which columns the arrows stop at. The Keyboard Navigation button in the chain toolbar opens the list. Tick the columns you want in the path and drag them into the order you want to visit them. The arrows then skip everything else, so you reach the button you want in fewer presses. It starts on the ones you trade from: RB, Move, Exit, Buy and Sell on each leg, and Sell, Buy, Exit and RB on the combined band. Your choice is saved.
With KeyBoard Order ticked, keys can also place orders:
Key What it does
B Buy the focused leg
S Sell the focused leg
E Exit the focused leg
Enter or Space Press the focused button
+ or − In Strangle mode, on a strike cell: buy or sell
KeyBoard Order is off to begin with. Turning it on asks you to confirm. Holding a key down does not repeat the order.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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Positions

// POSITIONS
Three position books
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Your positions sit under the chain in three books: Sell positions, Buy positions and Closed positions. They scroll together. Each book folds away with a click on its header.
The Sell and Buy headers show the count and the CE, PE and net quantity.
The MTM chip shows the live mark-to-market of every position.
Columns shows or hides columns. Risk and action columns can be pinned to the right edge so they stay in view.
Each column header has a filter list, like a spreadsheet. With a filter on, Filter MTM shows the MTM of just the rows you can see.
Group puts rows together by Index, Expiry, Strike or CE/PE, in any mix. Each group shows its count and net quantity.
The download icon saves the positions as a CSV file.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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// POSITIONS
Exit and add in one click
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Pick a Size, then press Exit or Add. The size works for both.
Size What it means
100%, 75%, 50%, 25% That share of each open position
Custom % Any share from 1 to 100
Custom QTY A fixed quantity, in lot multiples
It acts on the rows you have ticked. With nothing ticked, it acts on all open positions.
A share is rounded to whole lots. A leg where the share is less than one lot is skipped.
Exit never goes above the open quantity. Add never goes above your Max qty / order.
The Quick exit buttons, Exit 25%, Exit 50%, Exit 75% and Exit 100%, do the same in one press. Each asks you to confirm first, unless you have turned that off.
Cancel All cancels every open order at your broker.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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// POSITIONS
Timed exits
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Each Quick exit button has a clock. Set a time and TradeMate exits that share of your positions when the time comes.
Use 24-hour time, for example 15:10:00. It must be later today.
You can have one schedule for each share: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%.
It exits the rows you had ticked when you set it. With none ticked, it exits all positions.
The schedule runs in TradeMate's background service, so it fires even if you are on another screen.
A schedule whose time passed while TradeMate was closed is dropped, not fired later.
Cancel All also clears every timed exit.
Your timed exits appear in the Active Rules list with their time.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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Risk

// RISK

Stop loss and target on each position

Turn on SL or TGT in the positions toolbar to set a stop loss or a target for each position.

The settings bar holds your defaults:

Setting	Options	Default
Distance	A number, in % or Pts from the entry	10 %
Qty	Full, 90%, 75%, 50%, 25%	Full
On hit	Exit, Add, Away, Close, Away2, Close2, Away3, Close3	Exit
Auto arm	Arm new positions by itself	Off
Auto arm on	Sell positions or Buy positions	Sell positions

On hit decides what happens. Exit closes the chosen quantity. Add adds to it. The Away and Close choices roll the leg one, two or three strikes.

Each row has its own SL and TGT cell. You can tick it, edit its price, and choose its own quantity and action. A row can also use a Custom Qty.

At broker. With At broker on, the stop loss rests as a real stop order with your broker. It then still works if TradeMate is closed. The stop order is a stop-limit (SL) order, priced from your stop-loss order settings. With At broker off, TradeMate watches the price itself, ten times a second, and exits when the level is hit. Targets always run inside TradeMate.

Auto arm is for the current session only. It is always off when TradeMate starts.

// RISK
Trailing stop loss
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A trailing stop moves your stop loss as the price moves in your favour. It never moves against you.
every X — how far the price must move before the stop moves. The default is 10.
move SL Y — how far the stop moves each time. The default is 5.
Both are in Pts or %.
At broker — when on, each step also changes the stop order resting at your broker.
Auto arm — trails new positions by itself. It needs the stop loss Auto arm on as well.
Each row has its own T SL tick and X and Y values.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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// RISK
MTM stop loss and target
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The Risk tab protects your whole book at once. It watches your total MTM across every open position and every index.
Rule Fires when Example
Stop loss MTM falls to your level -5000
Target MTM rises to your level 8000
Each rule has two plain menus:
Action — what to do: Exit all positions, Add to all positions, Exit buy positions, Exit sell positions, Exit loss-making positions or Exit profit-making positions.
Qty — how much: Full, 75%, 67%, 50%, 33% or 25%.
You fill in the level, choose the action and quantity, and press Add. The rule is then armed. It is listed under Active Rules in plain words, for example When MTM falls to -5000: exit 50% of all positions. Change it and press Update, or remove it with the bin.
Trail SL moves the stop loss up as MTM rises. Set every and move SL. For example, every 1000 of MTM gained moves the stop up by 500.
Stop loss and target are a pair. When one fires, both are removed.
If MTM has already reached your level, TradeMate asks before it acts.
The same tab shows your margin from your broker: total, used and available.
TradeMate checks these rules twice a second. They run inside TradeMate, not at your broker.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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// RISK
ATM straddle stop loss and target
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The ATM tab of the Rules panel watches the ATM straddle premium: the call and the put at the ATM strike added together.
Rule Fires when
Stop loss The premium rises to your level
Target The premium falls to your level
Each rule has the same Action menu (Exit all positions or Add to all positions) and Qty menu (Full down to 25%). Fill in the level and press Add. The rule is listed under Active Rules.
Trail SL moves the stop loss down as the premium falls.
Stop loss and target are a pair. When one fires, both are removed.
The rule belongs to the index and expiry that were selected when you added it. It watches that straddle and acts on that expiry's positions.
How ATM is found is your choice in Settings: spot, index future or synthetic future.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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Rules

// RULES

Rolling rules

A rolling rule adjusts your legs when the index moves out of a band. It belongs to the index and expiry that were selected when you added it.

When you add the rule, it notes the current price as its reference. You set an Upper and a Lower level, either as points from the reference (Pts) or as prices (Manual). The reference, in From, is Spot or Synthetic. Each card says in one plain sentence what the rule will do with the settings you have chosen.

Type	When the upper band is crossed	When the lower band is crossed
Straddle	The call moves one strike away and the put one strike closer	The opposite
Strangle	Same as Straddle, for your call and put strikes	The opposite
All	Every matching leg moves Move (strikes) away	Every matching leg moves that many strikes closer

After a roll, the rule sets itself again around the new price. All can be narrowed to one index, to CE or PE legs, and to buy or sell positions.

The rule removes itself when its legs are closed. It does not act while the market is closed.

// RULES
Price rules
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Price rules adjust your short legs when a premium crosses a level. You can have one of each type per index, and each one belongs to the expiry that was selected when you added it.
Price Check CE and Price Check PE watch a short call or put.
When its premium reaches Adjust at, the leg is moved: bought back, then sold at a new strike.
New leg picks the new strike: Premium at or below a value, Below the adjust level, or Move away N strikes.
After ticks waits for the premium to stay above the level for that many ticks.
Auto sets Adjust at for you: your highest short entry price plus an offset. It is worked out again after each move.
Price Difference watches a short call and a short put together. When the gap between their premiums reaches Adjust at gap, the cheaper side is moved closer.
Each card says in one plain sentence what the rule will do.
Adjustments counts the moves against a maximum. The default maximum is 10, shared by the price rules on one index. At the maximum the rule stops and shows Max Adj Done. You can change the maximum at any time during the day. The count starts again from zero when you restart TradeMate.
Full walkthrough in the user guide
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Orders

// ORDERS

Smart limit orders

Entry and exit orders are always limit orders. Stop-loss orders are always stop-limit (SL) orders. You decide how each limit price is set, per index and separately for entry, exit and stop loss.

Setting	Options	Default
Product (entry only)	MIS or NRML	NRML
Limit price from	LTP, BestBidAsk, IMFill, AvgBidAsk	LTP
Buffer	A number, in % or Pts	3 %
Min buffer	The smallest buffer in points, when the buffer is a %	0
If not filled	Revise Limit Price, or Do Nothing & Wait	Revise Limit Price
Revise every (s)	Seconds between revisions	1
Max revisions	0 to 500	15

While an order is unfilled, TradeMate moves its limit price again at each interval, up to the maximum number of revisions. The copy button gives every index the same settings in one click.