Risk Monitoring Tools

Option Panel groups its risk monitoring tools in the trade detail view: the risk graph, the Risk Matrix, the Greeks, and the price chart. This page walks through all of them.

The most visual of the four is the risk graph — a representation of the profit and loss of your trade, plotted against the price of the underlying asset (horizontal axis) and the dollar amount of profit or loss (vertical axis). It gives you an immediate picture of how your trade performs across a wide range of market scenarios.

Where to find it

In Option Panel, the risk graph is displayed on the right side of the trade detail view.

The two curves

• Red/green line — the current P/L curve. Reflects the trade’s performance right now, under current market conditions.
• Gray line — the P/L curve at expiration, or more precisely at the nearest expiration date if your trade contains options with multiple expiry dates.

Simulating market conditions

The real power of the risk graph goes beyond a static snapshot. You can simulate how the P/L curve would shift as market conditions change — specifically the passage of time and changes in implied volatility, two of the most critical factors that drive the value of options.

Time simulation

Move the time control to simulate the passage of time toward expiration. A credit spread, for example, benefits from time decay: as time passes (with volatility held equal), the P/L curve moves upward. The trade gains value simply with the passage of time.

Volatility simulation

Bring the time control back to the present and adjust the volatility control. Simulate a rise in volatility, then a drop. A trade with negative vega loses value when volatility increases and gains value when volatility decreases — and you see that reflected directly in the graph as you move the control.

Combining both

You can combine the two controls simultaneously, simulating any mix of time passage and volatility change to see the joint effect on your P/L curve.

This makes the risk graph an essential tool for running through scenarios before they happen, and for making more informed decisions about your trade.

Per-point details (tooltip)

As you move your cursor across the chart, a tooltip shows the exact profit and loss at that price level along with every Greek at that point: delta, gamma, rho, theta, vega. At the top of the chart you can also see the aggregate Greek values for the entire trade — a consolidated view of your overall exposure.

Risk Matrix

If you prefer numbers to a visual curve, switch to the Risk Matrix view with the corresponding tab. The matrix is a numerical representation of the same data shown in the graph, organised as a table with price levels on the vertical axis and dates along the horizontal axis. For a given row you can read the expected profit or loss at a given underlying price across multiple future dates.

You can also toggle the table to display Greek values instead of P/L. Take delta as an example: it tells you how much the trade’s value changes for every one-dollar move in the underlying. Scanning across the table shows how your delta exposure shifts at different price levels and over time — useful for understanding how your directional risk evolves as the trade progresses.

Price Chart

Clicking Price Chart switches the right panel to display the price history of the underlying asset — a full-featured candlestick chart where you can add technical indicators and perform chart analysis directly within Option Panel. No need to switch to an external platform to pair your trade analysis with a technical study of the underlying.