Derivatives trading is a crime scene

Some two years ago, markets regulator SEBI published a research report on Derivatives Trading that began with the sentence, "89 per cent of the individual traders (i.e. 9 out of 10 individual traders) in the equity F&O segment incurred losses, with an average loss of Rs. 1.1 lakh during FY22..." While some people were surprised by this, no one who closely observed the equity markets found this to be unexpected. It is a known fact that almost all individual traders make heavy losses in F&O, but it's important that the SEBI study has put a number to it. In fact, at that time, I observed that if the traders had been tracked for a longer period, the aggregate number would have been higher. Suggested read: A black hole for your money Now, SEBI has released a follow-up report based on data from three financial years: FY22, FY23, and FY24. The headline conclusion continues to be unsurprising. Some 91 per cent of traders los