What do you mean by big players ? Institutional traders or prop traders ?
Only abundance of captial is keeping them safe and tension free in the market. They aren’t looking for price action or tops and bottoms . They make money in the spreads and running stoploss orders of retails and writing far OTMs.
Market is basically runs on the science of randomness. No-one ,even the market makers can’t predict or setup market for future time.
Capital/ fund is the system… matter is where and when to bet.
So as the invention of discovery of Atom. It may not be working as it was intended originally. That’s all right. Back in the days , investors bought options to mitigate the risk associated with their positions on the underlying. But these illiquid options never really worked the way they were hoping for… Until comes the retailers enjoying cheap buying with options. They became volatile and liquid similiar to its underlying.
Don’t worry about the word bet. Bet can only work , when there is more than 50% probability… Else it’s called gambling. Succesful retail traders and big fishes all do is betting only. Nobody is 100% sure about the outcome.
You are mistaken. Retail players indeed engage in betting, and you are correct about that part. However, big fishes do not operate this way. An employee at a trading terminal will not place a bet without written instructions from their superior. Furthermore, a superior will not issue such instructions unless it has been approved in a board meeting. Betting with other people’s money can lead to severe consequences, including legal action. Remember Nick Leeson of Barings Bank?
Not just Nick Leeson , Jerome Kerviel is also another known recent example of gambling and unnecessary risk taking. That’s not the point. What the entire market movement is ,one party betting contrary to another party’s expectations. Remember these are big fishes. A single day’s market movement is transaction of two major bank groups. Neither of them won’t exit in net loss as their positions are well hedged and they have means of free money from stop-running and far OTM selling.
They might get on the wrong foot , but they never exit in net loss. But to win big , they will need to bet. Bet on the signals and data , that they are getting from Bloomberg and Reuters terminals.
As far as the live trading , they don’t need a written confirmation from the higher ups to take a trade. They are well trained on the systems they are using and instruments they are trading. I personally know couple of prop traders , so I am saying this from my perspective. They often times said to me , they have upper hand only with the spreads and stops information… But where and how the market is moving… Still unknown to them. All they do is place strategic and educated bets.
Sorry for asking another Q, but what is your source from where you have concluded that each and every trade (or investment) big players make is profitable and that every day is profitable for them?
The problem you are facing is not new, this faced by many traders…
From the problems you have stated 3 to 6 can be kept away for sometime…
I have few questions for you.
How long have you been trading for?
Are you a full time or a Part-time trader?
How much time have you dedicated towards learning trading?
What have you learnt so far in how to trade the markets? (For eg Indicator based trading or some other form of trading)…
Based on your answers to these questions I can guide you to eliminating problem 2 stated in your post…
P.S: This information will departed to you free, I do not charge money.
This is mostly an incorrect thought process. Considering the size of FnO market today no single institution or group has power to move market. You can move a candle stick or 2 or 3 but eventually market moves on its own.
I have started trading 10 months and mostly I have FnO earlier in idx and recently moved to stocks FnO ~ 2months back. I am at -ve 10k global pnl recovering from -60k. All this on my own. So no, if you follow system, it is possible to be profitable in FnO as well.
But the interesting part is that Manchester United needs 1000s goals and High School Team needs only 1 or 2 goal to win and that is possible.
I mean, earn small consistently, don’t be greedy.
Like casino gambling or betting on the horses, speculating in the
market can be exciting or even rewarding (if you happen to get lucky).
But it’s the worst imaginable way to build your wealth. That’s because
Wall Street, like Las Vegas or the racetrack, has calibrated the odds
so that the house always prevails, in the end, against everyone who
tries to beat the house at its own speculative game.
On the other hand, investing is a unique kind of casino—one where
you cannot lose in the end, so long as you play only by the rules that
put the odds squarely in your favor. People who invest make money for
themselves; people who speculate make money for their brokers. And
that, in turn, is why Wall Street perennially downplays the durable
virtues of investing and hypes the gaudy appeal of speculation.
– Benjamin Graham ( The Intelligent Investor)
I have been in the market for almost 20 years, and I have found no reason to disagree with him.
Tag @zerodhaonline on X (Twitter)—they respond faster there.
Join Telegram or Discord communities—peer support is often more practical.
Lack of Better Alternatives
Sadly, most brokers have their own quirks. Instead of switching blindly:
Test alternatives with small capital first.
Use multiple brokers—one for execution, one for charting.
Consider Algo platforms like Streak or Tradetron if automation is key.
Bottom line: You’re facing real challenges, but they’re solvable with structure, discipline, and a few workflow tweaks. Don’t let platform limitations or temporary setbacks shake your belief. Trading is a game of edge, patience, and adaptability.
Limited Capital
Low Confidence
Platform Performance Issues
Lack of Advanced Order Types
Customer Support
Lack of Better Alternatives