A Reddit user has shared a cautionary account of losing Rs 1.6 lakh in just two days through options trading, describing how an attempt to recover an earlier loss spiralled into aggressive trading and eventually wiped out his stock portfolio.
The user, identified as "soul-lessTechie", said he had previously lost money trading options in 2021-22 and had vowed to stay away from the segment. After taking a break from trading to repay loans, he recently returned to the markets and said the "old addiction" resurfaced.
According to the Reddit post, the user initially returned to intraday trading and lost around Rs 10,000 a few days ago. "In order to cover that loss I activated FnO, sold my portfolio & started doing FnO yesterday," he said.
He said he made a profit of Rs 5,000 on the first day using Rs 50,000, but continued trading because he wanted to recover his earlier Rs 10,000 loss. The trader said he carried a call option position overnight. When the market opened lower the following day, he continued adding to the losing position instead of cutting his losses.
"I kept adding to the losing position & over trading whole day in such bad market and ultimately zeroed everything that I had in my stocks portfolio," he wrote.
The user said the experience left him disappointed and unsure about what to do next. "Burnt the hard earned money into ashes in these two days," he said, adding that it was difficult to believe what he had done.
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The post prompted other Reddit users to caution against trying to recover market losses through increasingly aggressive trades. One user advised him to delete trading apps, take a break and focus on gradually building wealth rather than trying to make quick money.
Another pointed to the challenging market conditions following the introduction of the closing auction session (CAS), saying even experienced traders were finding it difficult to trade. The user advised him to deactivate F&O trading, automate systematic investment plans (SIPs) and avoid frequently checking investments.
Another Reddit user summed up the advice in three words: "Stop revenge trading." The comments highlight a common behavioural risk in derivatives trading: attempting to recover losses quickly can lead to larger positions, overtrading and further losses.
Retail F&O Losses Remain High
The Reddit account comes against the backdrop of continued concerns around retail participation in equity derivatives.
Parliament was informed on Tuesday that regulatory measures introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India helped reduce aggregate net losses incurred by retail investors in the equity derivatives segment to Rs 91,685 crore in fiscal 2026, from Rs 1.12 lakh crore in the previous financial year.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that the number of unique individual investors in the equity derivatives segment declined year-on-year from 98.10 lakh to 78.60 lakh. Net losses incurred by individual investors also declined from Rs 1,11,788 crore to Rs 91,685 crore in fiscal 2026.
Retail investor volumes and overall trading turnover in equity derivatives, covering futures and options, also declined during fiscal 2026 compared with the preceding year.
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