Vikram A V

If the broker doesn’t have funds, he has to borrow that comes at a higher cost. If they do have funds, allocating it towards client margins with 0 returns could mean missing out on other better use of capital. For example: If a client blocks broker's ₹5Cr as margin but generates around ₹2–3L in brokerage annually. This may not be the most efficient use of capital from the broker’s perspective. If a broker is borrowing money for funding it will be a big hit.

@vikramfirstock That's fine. But it's not like the broker is putting up cash cash for it. They buy cash equivalent secruties then pledge that. Charging clients for that is like earnings 6-7% from those then charging clients another 10-14% from this. Effectively making 20% from less risk product.

There is a lot of talk around broker margin lately. Here’s what you actually need to know. Before Sep 2021, 50:50 cash and collateral margin was managed at broker level. Now it’s strictly at the client level. Reason is simple: one client’s cash cannot be used to support another client’s collateral. As per regulation, minimum 50% margin has to be in cash or cash equivalents. This applies to both intraday and carry forward positions. If you’re taking positions only using stock collateral, the cash portion is effectively being funded by the broker. Example: Assume Nifty futures margin is ₹1.75L Required cash = ₹87.5K If you have ₹60K, there is a shortfall of ₹27.5K That gap is funded by the broker, by blocking their own capital If this is not maintained, RRM will step in and positions can be cut. Important point: Some brokers were already strict about this. Others, especially cash-rich brokers, allowed intraday trades without enforcing the 50% cash at client level and charged interest only for carry forward position. But in both the cases, the cash portion was effectively being funded by the broker at the clearing corporation level using his money Clients can also track their collateral (cash and non-cash) through the portals provided by NSE and BSE Clearing Limited.

Copper just broke out of a 14-year range. India's per capita consumption is still one-fifth of the global average. India consumes 0.6 kg of copper per person per year. The global average is 3.2 kg. An EV needs 3–4× more copper than a petrol car. One PSU holds 45% of India's copper reserves and just got its key clearances after years of waiting. Full deep dive 👇 youtu.be/aOf9AGfXwNY

Yesterday we hosted a focus group with 12 traders to understand their trading workflows and what they actually need from a trading app without unnecessary clutter. The conversation was extremely insightful. We received several practical inputs and many of these ideas will start reflecting in our upcoming releases. We plan to make these focus groups a regular exercise. Our goal is simple to build platforms that genuinely make a difference for traders. And there’s really no better way to improve a trading platform than hearing directly from the traders who use it every single day.

The future of AI won’t just be written in code. It will be built with steel, silicon, and megawatts. That means gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure, massive GPU clusters, and billions in investment. And one unexpected company is right at the center of it: Larsen & Toubro Here’s what’s really happening 👇 ▶️ youtu.be/hSFqx88Cjvs

We’re hosting a focus group with Firstock customers in Bangalore. The idea is simple understand how you actually use the app, what slows you down, and what can be simplified. We’ll also show you some new developments we’re building around trading platforms and how broking apps may evolve to serve everything in one place. Transport will be sponsored, followed by snacks and tea. If you’d like to be part of shaping the product, register below: forms.gle/jTqWpk66UMfPAb…

Today we had a one day workshop conducted by @firstockbroking We had a wonderful session with 150+ traders joining us. The response was truly overwhelming. The event was originally planned for around 100 participants with invitation, but seeing the interest, we had to increase the seating capacity at the last moment. Thank you all for showing up and making the session so lively. I hope I was able to add some value to your trading journey. Grateful for the enthusiasm and engagement from everyone who attended. We’ll be planning similar sessions in more cities soon, and I look forward to meeting many more of you there.

We are conducting a 1-Day Offline Seminar in Chennai this weekend. In this session, we will be covering in detail how we are trading equities and options for 2026. the exact approach, structure, and thought process we are using in the current market environment. This is a completely free event, as part of the educational initiative from Firstock. However, to truly benefit from what we are sharing, I would strongly recommend attending only if you have a trading capital of ₹10 Lakhs or above. The frameworks discussed will be most relevant for traders operating at that scale. This is a fully structured learning program no random topics, no generic theory. Everything is organized step-by-step with practical implementation. If you are interested, please sign up using the link below. exly.live/o0OPad Seats are limited. Venue: Hotel Ambica Empire, Chennai Date: 07-March-2026 Cost: Free

We’ve been getting repeated requests to make market tracking simpler and more practical for equity investors. So we’ve added two powerful new features inside the app: 1. You can now track Top Gainers, Top Losers, 52 Week High, 52 Week Low, and Most Active stocks all filtered index-wise, so you see what’s moving where, instantly. 2. We’ve also introduced a Market Heatmap for Sectors and Indices. It shows real-time market movement over your selected time period, highlights the Advance-Decline ratio and list, and even displays the top ETFs under each index and sector— making stock and ETF picking much easier. You can start using it live on Firstock today.

@ankit_llh Membership application with MCX submitted. Will update soon.

@vikramfirstock Customer support I use both zerodha and firstock customer support at firstock is top notch. Its the only reason i have not changed you as a broker. Have to stick with kite for commodity trading.

Today, the broking industry has become completely commoditised. You can’t win on pricing alone as the brokerage is already pushed to near to floor. You can’t win on tech either, almost every broker now offers similar features with solid platforms. And even if someone builds a differentiator, it gets copied or matched within weeks. So in this environment, what truly adds value to the customer now?

@BashaWazuddin Membership application with MCX submitted. Will update soon.

@vikramfirstock Plz start commodity segment also

Broking business in India has been on a structural uptrend for the last decade, market size growing from ~20,000 Cr in 2019 to ~55,000 in 2025 2020 was a turning point. The lockdown phase brought in a massive wave of first-time traders. Retail participation exploded, and the real fuel behind this boom was F&O trading. High volumes in derivatives directly translated into strong revenue growth for discount brokers. Then came 2024. With multiple regulatory changes, F&O activity started stagnating and eventually saw a dip. Volumes cooled off. For a while, it looked like the growth engine had slowed down. But the industry found another lever: MTF. The Margin Trading Facility book today stands at nearly ₹1.2 lakh crore. At 12-15% annual interest, that alone adds roughly ₹15,000 crore in revenue to brokers. What looked like a slowdown in derivatives was partially offset by the expansion of funded positions. Overall, the industry has compounded at 15%+ CAGR over the last few years. And the runway still looks long. If F&O activity revives, MTF books continue to scale, and segments like MCX see higher participation, the next growth rate for brokers might continue for the next few years

Traders don't blow up because they don't know trading. They blew up because of negative skewness. When strategies give small, consistent profits, high win rate, smooth equity curve, it feels safe. To boost these small gains, when we use leverage, one "Black Swan" event can wipe out decades of profit Here are two unknown examples: 1. Bill Hwang (Archegos Capital) Bill Hwang turned $200 million into a $20 billion fortune over nearly a decade. He was known for having an incredibly high tolerance for risk and picking massive winning tech stocks like Netflix and Amazon early. Hwang used a financial instrument called Total Return Swaps to take on roughly 5x leverage without publicly disclosing his holdings. In March 2021, a minor decline in Viacom CBS stock triggered a margin call. Because he was so leveraged he couldn't put up the cash. Hwang lost the entire $20 billion in 2 days. 2. Brian Hunter (Amaranth Advisors) Brian Hunter was a star energy trader who had generated billions in profits. He turned Amaranth Advisors into a $9 billion hedge fund. He was viewed as a math wizard who understood natural gas weather patterns better than anyone. Hunter placed a massive bet that natural gas prices would rise in the winter, entered a spread trade. The trade itself wasn't illogical, but his position size was the mistake. NG prices started to drop. Because Hunter held such a massive percentage of the open interest in natural gas futures, he couldn't sell his position without crashing the price further. Amaranth lost $6.6 billion in a matter of weeks, destroying the entire firm.

@kongukovai13 @firstockbroking We’ll add the virtual contract note option and update you once it’s live.

@vikramfirstock @firstockbroking Hi sir add add virtual contract note

A major tech disruption happened at the beginning of the 21st century. There was a lot of chatter that technology would completely disrupt the job market and wipe out employment. It did impact certain areas, especially manufacturing jobs. But overall, innovation ended up creating more jobs, not fewer. If you look at the data year on year, and even across every 5-year period, the total number of jobs has only increased. Jobs were added, not cut down. The same logic applies today with AI. AI will expand the use of technology into industries that never used tech before. Yes, it may disrupt old roles and create new ones. The people who resist change or refuse to adapt are the ones who will be left behind.

@damngoodlad We have already applied for MCX membership, and we are expecting commodities trading to go live on Firstock by April 2026.

@vikramfirstock Hi- Could you please let me know when commodities would be available for trading in firstock?

@IamItachi33 @saketh1998 Yes, we do have the latest version of the Windows EXE terminal available. Kindly try the latest version and share your feedback with us. If you have any specific requirements, you can directly discuss them with me.

@vikramfirstock @saketh1998 Do you still have the terminal which you used to provide which we install on our windows machines ? I previously liked it but due to some bugs which resets the windows and their sizes once i logout and login , which made me quit using it. Do you plan on bringing it back?

We started Firstock in 2021. Completely Bootstrapped. Trying to build a brokerage from zero was not easy with no cash to burn, we focused only on support to traders and building better technology. It required focus, long hours, and patience. We have been profitable from day one as we have no liberty to burn cash. We spent zero on marketing. Still, today we process 20-25,000 orders every day. We have 20000 registered accounts and more than 6,000 traders actively use Firstock. All came only through word of mouth. Now we are moving to the next phase. By the end of this quarter, we are adding Algo trading and AI tools to Firstock. We recently held a long team meeting to map out the execution. Our goal is to ensure these tools actually help a trader’s bottom line, rather than just adding noise. Please leave your thoughts and suggestions for our platform in the comments. I am reading all of them.

@BrittoDavidRaj7 @saketh1998 Thanks for using Firstock and sharing your feedback. This is already on our roadmap, and we’re actively working on adding similar features to Firstock. Your inputs definitely help us move faster in the right direction.

@vikramfirstock @saketh1998 I have been using firstock and also explained a feature that would benefit traders who can not watch the screen all day but also don't want to miss the profit. Such features are available in 5 paisa(trailling sl) & dhan(super order), upstock. Try to implement these feature.

Thanks for the suggestion,this makes complete sense 👍 We can do ATM selection based on Spot / Future / Synthetic Future, and we agree synthetic future based ATM is more accurate for option strategies. This feature is already taken up and will be ready in a couple of weeks on the Firstock platform. Appreciate your feedback👍🏼

@vikramfirstock Spot based ATM selection leads to higher or lower delta for ATM sometimes. Can you please provide an option to use Spot/Future/Synthetic future to select the ATM (Similar feature available on StockMock option chain)? This will be of great help.