Once the preserve of big, institutional investors, it is now being embraced by retail investors who view it as a casino opportunity. But will the regulatory vacuum crash the party?
Utsav Kapoor, a 28-year old IIT graduate and resident of Chandigarh, was hit by a double whammy during the first phase of the pandemic last year. He lost his high-paying job and his bet on quick gains from the stock market went horribly wrong; his entire savings of Rs 25 lakh got wiped out on the new stock market fad of retail algorithmic trading, or retail algo.
His account and subsequent complaints to the markets regulator and exchanges were widely circulated on WhatsApp groups. They were met with equal parts outrage and ridicule. The proponents of retail algo called them …
Jayshree is a former writer at The Morning Context. As journalist, she had nearly a decade of experience across Mint, Business Standard and Bloomberg TV India. The bulk of her career has been devoted to tracking the capital markets regulator, exchanges, regulatory policies, financial scams and corporate governance issues. One of her biggest breaking stories was her incisive coverage of the colocation scam which put the lapses at NSE in the public domain.
jayshree@mailtmc.com