Kalpeshr Patil Direct Question You’ve probably heard of Nifty 50 every time the market opens. But scroll through your broker app and you’ll spot Nifty 500, Smallcap 250 and Fin Nifty too – three names that sound similar but track completely different parts of the market. ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil For my first few months … Read more
Direct Question You’ve seen Nifty futures OI fall sharply in expiry week and rise again days later on the next contract – but is that money leaving the market, or just changing addresses? ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil I once watched a stock future’s OI crash by nearly half overnight and assumed a mass … Read more
Surprising Fact Two traders can execute a trade worth crores today, and the open interest on that contract might not move by even one unit. ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil The first time I saw “OI” next to Nifty futures on my trading app, I assumed it was just another way of showing the … Read more
Last Updated: October 1, 2026 Real Moment Two Nifty 50 index funds, same benchmark, expense ratios 0.10% apart. A reader once asked me why the “cheaper” one had actually delivered less over three years. The expense ratio wasn’t lying – it just wasn’t the whole answer. ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil I used to … Read more
Surprising Fact A 1% difference in expense ratio can end up costing you more over 20 years than a handful of bad stock picks. ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil I once compared two large-cap funds purely on their 5-year returns and picked the one that looked slightly better. Only later did I notice it … Read more
Direct Question You’ve placed a market order at 9:07 AM before, right before the market opened. Since September 7, 2026, that order gets rejected. Here’s exactly why. ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil I track pre-open activity most mornings. On September 7, a market order I placed around 9:07 AM simply wasn’t accepted. NSE had … Read more
Clean Definition Diversification means not letting one company, one sector or one bet decide the fate of your entire portfolio. ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil A few years ago I held five stocks and felt “diversified.” Then IT stocks had a rough quarter and four of my five names fell together – I hadn’t … Read more
Direct Question You’ve seen “Nifty 50 Index Fund” on every mutual fund app screen – but what does it actually mean for a fund to “track” an index instead of picking stocks? ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil The first time I bought a Nifty 50 index fund, I checked the NAV shown on my … Read more
Last Updated: October 1, 2026 Direct Question You already know that Change in OI going up means more contracts got opened — but does that tell you whether the person adding that position was making a directional bet, or a market maker just hedging? ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil The first time I tried … Read more
Surprising Fact Over 91% of individual F&O traders in India lost money in FY25, according to SEBI — and most of them were staring at an option chain when they placed the trade. ✍️ Author’s Note — Kalpeshr Patil The first time I opened the Nifty option chain, I compared OI across two different expiry … Read more