Business

Budget 2026: Shankar Sharma cheers derivatives STT hike, calls F&O a ‘poison’ for investors

Published

3 days ago

1 February 2026

Budget 2026: Shankar Sharma cheers derivatives STT hike, calls F&O a ‘poison’ for investors

Even as the hike in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) weighed on market sentiment and emerged as one of the triggers behind the sharp sell-off in Sunday’s trading session, ace investor Shankar Sharma came out in strong support of the Budget 2026 move, saying he loved the Budget for this “one major reason.”

Likening derivatives trading (futures & options) to a ‘poison’ laced with ‘cocaine’, Sharma warned that the destructive impact of F&O trading would be felt across generations.

“I love this Budget for ONE major reason: hiking of STT on derivatives. Derivatives are a poison x cocaine, eating away at the roots of our youth. Its destructive effect will be felt by generations. It’s a pure wealth transfer from the traders to F&O specialist brokers, who have been massive winners of this drug + gun trade. ( Not their fault),” the GQuant FinXray founder said in a tweet.

In his view, the F&O segment in India adds no value to the country but cannot be stopped.

“F&O adds zero value to India. It deducts inestimable value. It can’t be stopped but it can be taxed the hell out of. Kudos to the Finance Minister,” Sharma said.

The government’s decision to raise the securities transaction tax (STT) on derivatives triggered a sharp sell-off in brokerage and exchange stocks during the special live weekend trading session. Shares of BSE, Groww (Billionbrains Garage Ventures), and Angel One plunged as much as 13.5%.
“I propose to raise the STT on Futures to 0.05 percent from the present 0.02 percent. STT on options premium and exercise of options are both proposed to be raised to 0.15 percent from the present rate of 0.1 percent and 0.125 percent, respectively,” FM Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.”The increase in STT on derivatives may impact trading but it should be looked at as an encouragement to gradually shift towards cash market and long-term investing,” said, A Balasubramanian, Managing Director & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, echoing a somewhat similar sentiment.

Vishal Kampani – Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JM Financial said that the measured increase in STT on futures and options reflects a clear intent to curb excessive speculation, fostering a more stable market and encouraging sustainable participation from long-term retail and institutional investors.

Other side of spectrum

Sandeep Nayak, MD & CEO at Centrum Finverse called STT hike the only notable disappointment from today’s budget, especially in the absence of any corresponding relief in capital gains taxation.

Bhupinder Singh, Founder, InCred Group said that the sharp increase in STT on futures and options has “understandably unsettled markets” and could weigh on trading volumes at a delicate moment. “Predictability and active participation are vital for deep capital markets, so ongoing engagement between government and market stakeholders will be key,” he opined.

Estimated impact

Decoding the impact, Ashish Singhal, Co-founder, Lemonn, said that the current STT framework does not differentiate between various categories of users or the purpose of derivative usage, genuine hedging activity is subject to the same higher costs as speculative trading. In his view, this uniform treatment could discourage some investors from employing prudent hedging strategies, effectively increasing their exposure to market risk and making portfolio protection more expensive.

Doing the math, this analyst said that for every Rs 1 lakh worth of futures sold, traders will now pay Rs 20 in STT instead of the previous Rs 12.50. For a Rs 10,000 option contract sale, STT increased to Rs 10 from Rs 6.25, he added.

(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

Business

PAMT CORP: Pain Is Likely To Continue Near-Term (Downgrade)

Published

7 minutes ago

4 February 2026

NewsAdmin

PAMT CORP: Pain Is Likely To Continue Near-Term (Downgrade)

Business

From Pixar to Disney+: The $100-billion blueprint behind Bob Iger’s Disney

Published

15 minutes ago

4 February 2026

NewsAdmin

From Pixar to Disney+: The $100-billion blueprint behind Bob Iger’s Disney

When Bob Iger was promoted to chief executive officer of Walt Disney Co in 2005, he took over a company that was an undeniable force in entertainment and theme parks, but badly in need of rejuvenation.

In one of his first moves, Iger made Disney shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives available for sale on Apple ‘s iTunes platform, ushering in the unique idea of watching TV online. Three months later he bought Pixar from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. That $7.4 billion deal was an eye-popper, paving the way for blockbusters like Cars and Inside Out that reinvigorated Disney’s animated film business.

Those early moves hinted at key parts of Iger’s strategy: acquire marquee entertainment franchises and find new ways to exploit them. As he prepares to hand the reins next month to his successor, theme-parks chief Josh D’Amaro, Iger leaves a legacy that includes snapping up the biggest brand names in Hollywood via more than $100 billion in mergers and acquisitions, expanding in China and building a streaming business that delivered $24.6 billion in revenue from people watching movies and TV shows online last year.

“That’s one huge insight of his,” said David Collis, an executive education fellow at Harvard Business School who has written about Iger. “If you own these incredible entertainment franchises, any device only increases demand for your content.”

More deals followed Pixar, including Marvel Entertainment and its stable of superheroes, Star Wars-parent Lucasfilm and the $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, which brought in franchises like The Simpsons and Avatar.

“The deal we did for Fox, in many ways, was ahead of its time,” Iger said this week on an earnings call when asked about Netflix’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.
Those acquired characters and stories found their way into Disney’s theme parks. In 2013, when the company first began exploring a Star Wars land for the parks, Iger told his designers, “Be the most ambitious that you have ever been,” Bob Weis, the longtime head of Disney’s parks design business, recalled in his 2024 autobiography.Iger was also keen on international expansion, green-lighting the $5.4 billion Shanghai Disneyland. Before its 2016 opening, Iger flew to China on a nearly monthly basis to monitor its progress, according to Weis.

The same year the Fox acquisition closed, Iger launched Disney+, the company’s flagship streaming service, the company’s response to the growing dominance of Netflix in online viewing. Providing a new outlet for programming that ran on networks like the Disney Channel was a threat to the company’s lucrative cable-TV business, but in the end, Iger relented.

Disney+ was a hit from the start. Ten million customers signed up the first day, driven by programming such as the Star Wars-spinoff The Mandalorian. The company reported 132 million Disney+ subscribers at the end of its latest fiscal year.

TV Star
Iger has spent his whole career in the TV business, rising up the ranks at ABC and performing every task, from getting a bottle of Listerine for Frank Sinatra before a TV special to scheduling the 1988 Winter Olympics. He was considered a likely CEO of broadcaster Capital Cities/ABC until that company was acquired by Disney in 1996 and he had to start clawing his way up the corporate ladder again.

When a shareholder revolt finally prompted the retirement of Disney CEO Michael Eisner in 2005, Iger got his shot.

More than 20 years later, the worst grade on Iger’s corporate report card likely comes in succession planning. Multiple extensions of his contract over the years led senior Disney executives to exit. When he finally stepped down for the first time in 2020, his handpicked successor Bob Chapek proved to be disappointment.

As Iger prepares to pass the baton to D’Amaro on March 18, he leaves plenty of work still to be done. On the recent earnings call, Iger said he hoped his replacement would carry on with his focus on reinvention.