“I am different. I will make money in F&O.”

I keep hearing some version of this surprisingly often!
“I understand charts.”
“I've studied the markets.”
“I have a strategy.”
“I don't blindly trade.”

And then comes the confidence:
“I can make easy money from F&O.”

Sadly, the data doesn't support this confidence.

The latest SEBI data tells a very different story.
91% of individual F&O traders lost money in FY25.

Look at the chart.
Individuals lost ₹72,000+ crore in FY26!

But the numbers aren't even the most interesting part of this story.
A few months ago, one of my carpoolers told me she trades F&O during her commute.
On profitable days, she was excited.
On losing days, she was visibly upset.

I asked how much she was making.
₹2–3K a month.
“I'm learning,” she said.
“I understand charts much better now. Soon I'll make much more.”

A few months later, I asked her how things were going.

After a long pause:
“I lost a few lakhs.”

I asked, “So you've stopped trading?”

Another long pause.
“I've reduced the bet size.”

She still trades.
Without telling her family!

That's when F&O stops being an investment decision.
It starts becoming an addiction.

Sadly, the social media noise fuels this addiction!
Someone makes a few successful trades.
Posts a screenshot.
Sells a ₹99 masterclass.

And suddenly, thousands of people believe they too can beat the market.

One lucky trade can create confidence.
A few lucky trades can create overconfidence.

And then the market eventually reminds us:
A strategy that worked yesterday isn't guaranteed to work tomorrow.

This is also why I prefer keeping my long-term investments boring.
For someone whose objective is only mutual fund investments, why use a broking firm app when one can easily buy Mutual funds through simpler platforms like MFCentral!
Broking firms will eventually push the person to trade; that's where they make money!

Are you an F&O trader?
Has your experience actually been different from the data?