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The exact opposite trade of an Iron Condor: pay a net debit betting the underlying makes a significant move away from the middle, instead of collecting a credit betting it stays put.

A Reverse Iron Condor buys a put and sells a further put below the current price, and buys a call and sells a further call above it — the same four strikes an Iron Condor uses, with every buy and sell reversed. Where an Iron Condor profits from the underlying staying inside a range, this strategy profits from it moving well outside that range in either direction.

This is a Bear Put Spread and a Bull Call Spread combined on the same underlying and expiry — one profits from a fall, the other from a rise, and together they profit from either, at the cost of a net debit instead of an Iron Condor's net credit.

The same five zones as an Iron Condor, with profit and loss swapped:

1. At or below the outer put strike — flat, maximum profit.
2. Between the two put strikes — profit shrinks as price rises, crossing into loss at the lower breakeven.
3. Between the two inner strikes — flat, maximum loss across this zone.
4. Between the two call strikes — loss shrinks as price rises further, crossing back into profit at the upper breakeven.
5. At or above the outer call strike — flat, maximum profit again.

A Reverse Iron Condor fits a "big move coming, direction uncertain" view, the same thesis a Short Call Condor or Short Put Condor expresses, but mixing calls and puts the way an Iron Condor does. It's a defined-risk alternative to a Long Strangle, trading unlimited profit potential for a lower, capped cost.

Suppose Nifty is trading at 24,000 with a weekly expiry coming up, and lot size is 65. You expect a significant move away from 23,600–24,400.

1. Confirm the setup. You expect Nifty to move well outside the 23,600–24,400 range, direction uncertain.
2. Buy 1 put at the 23,600 strike for a premium of 45.
3. Sell 1 put at the 23,400 strike, collecting a premium of 22.
4. Buy 1 call at the 24,400 strike for a premium of 48.
5. Sell 1 call at the 24,600 strike, collecting a premium of 24.
6. Calculate the net debit: (45−22) + (48−24) = 47 points, or ₹3,055 at this lot size — your maximum possible loss.
7. Calculate the max profit: both spreads are 200 points wide, so max profit is (200 − 47) × 65 = ₹9,945, the same on either side.
8. See how it resolves at expiry:
   • Nifty finishes at or beyond 23,400 or 24,600 → maximum profit of ₹9,945.
   • Nifty finishes between 23,600 and 24,400 → maximum loss of ₹3,055.
   • Nifty finishes right at either breakeven → you exactly break even.

Quick reference for the same trade:

Based on the worked example above — the exact mirror image of the Iron Condor page's diagram. Move the cursor over the chart to see profit/loss at any price.

• Four separate legs mean higher execution cost than a simpler two-leg spread.
• This strategy needs a real move to be profitable — if the underlying simply sits near the middle through expiry, you take the maximum loss.
• Index options on NSE are typically European-style and cash-settled — no early-assignment risk on the short legs.