
Robinhood: At a Play Store Near You - busterc
http://blog.robinhood.com/news/2015/8/12/robinhood-at-a-play-store-near-you
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acyacy
Robin Hood is dangerous for the young millennial. Short term trading is really
risky and if you have some cash saved up it can make a big difference in the
longer term if you don't blow it up or lose it. Being young matters.

If you're in Australia and looking for something longer term access to
Berkshire Hathaway shares or ETFs
[https://getfirststep.com](https://getfirststep.com) is another service too
[no individual shares] its more like wealthfront/betterment/acorns.

They fractionalise the investment so you don't need huge amounts which is
quite nice.

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fixxer
Not saying you don't have a point, but there are a lot of ways to lose your
ass in this world and I don't see Robinhood as a particularly egregious case
that requires any more warning than Fidelity (which will jam fees).

Unless you have a gambling addiction, it is hard to get into trouble with a
cash account. Margin accounts are another issue, but in the States, "pattern
day trading" requires $25k minimum balance to execute more than 4 trades in 5
biz days. That is a pretty effective filter.

I really hope they add IRA support soon.

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ryanmonroe
Just to be clear, unless you're in the margin account beta, "free-riding" is
impossible in Robinhood, so users will never be breaking any day trading
rules.

disclaimer: this is not legal advice

[http://www.finra.org/investors/day-trading-margin-
requiremen...](http://www.finra.org/investors/day-trading-margin-requirements-
know-rules)

>Day trades can occur in a cash account (only) to the extent the trades do not
violate the free-riding prohibition of Federal Reserve Board's Regulation T.
In general, failing to pay for a security before you sell the security in a
cash account violates the free-riding prohibition. If you free-ride, your
broker is required to place a 90-day freeze on the account.

~~~
fixxer
Yup, agreed. For the uninitiated, this refers to your account showing a
positive balance based on a sale that occurred but has not settled.

Seems like a great app... just have to get some money in there without telling
them my bank creds...

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larrythedog
The way they market this app makes me pretty concerned. It seems like they're
advocating short-term trading -- pretty risky behavior. I guess they don't
explicitly do this, but the nature of a mobile-only platform, with what looks
like no portfolio/risk analysis tools screams short term. Also, the only real
reason a commission-free account would be helpful is if you're trading pretty
frequently or in very small amounts. I'd rather pay $10/trade for something
like Fidelity, Etrade, or the like, and have access to some mediocre portfolio
analysis, risk analysis, and research tools, than have only a Buy/Sell button.
However, I'd bet that uninformed investors would see this deal and jump right
in without considering these things.

I guess my TLDR here is that a trading platform's selling point (for the
general public) should be tools first, price second; not price first,
aesthetics second.

~~~
Someone1234
> It seems like they're advocating short-term trading -- pretty risky
> behavior.

No matter how successful they're, I'd argue that it is a drop in the bucket
compared to high-frequency trading. I cannot see it hurting the markets.

> Also, the only real reason a commission-free account would be helpful is if
> you're trading pretty frequently or in very small amounts.

Why? It saves you $10 even if you only trade once every year. It is MORE
helpful with many trades, but it is helpful regardless.

> pay $10/trade [..] and have access to some mediocre portfolio analysis, risk
> analysis, and research tools

Why can't people get these from third parties? A lot of other services provide
these tools and information. This de-couples the bundling and allows people to
shop around.

~~~
larrythedog
You're right on all counts. The point I was trying to make is that it caters
to unsophisticated investors, and this platform indirectly encourages them to
invest without understanding the risks.

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yummyfajitas
I just installed Robinhood. $0 commissions is a pretty nice rate, so I'll
probably transfer my IRA to them. (For prop trading I'm on IB.)

But why such a user hostile interface? It's almost as if this thing is made
for a techcrunch press release rather than actual use. When signing up, I
can't tilt the screen into "I have big thumbs" mode. And mobile-only trading -
no webapp. It also only asks me to type my password _once_ on my mobile
device, with my fat thumbs. I'm sure that this sounds great to a techcrunch
journalist who only has a 401k - "mobile trading for the flexible millenial
workforce" \- but it's pretty terrible for anyone who actually wants to make
real trades.

Also simply lovely; I look at a stock chart in the mobile app, and I can't see
data older than 1 year. The default is 1 day. But I can watch SPY's last price
ticking up and down in realtime, woot! I'm sure I'll also get push
notifications for trades. (Disclaimer: I haven't tried to trade yet).

I really hope this is a "lean startup" only beta and will be rapidly improved.
Right now, the price tag is the only good thing about it.

~~~
ahh
If the commission rate affects your IRA return, you are trading far too much.

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yummyfajitas
The IRA is the place to make highly volatile investments that might incur
large capital gains taxes. In contrast, your ordinary brokerage is the place
for buy&hold + occasional rebalance.

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ahh
Volatile \neq frequently traded; tax is not affected by commission rate.

I find it highly unlikely that almost anyone should trade anything frequently,
even in the weirder corners of their portfolio.

~~~
yummyfajitas
I run some frequently traded strategies as a hobby (i.e., time spent >> my
salary). My strategy is profitable (15-20% returns) though not scalable. The
IRA is the perfect place for these, due to the tax implications.

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fixxer
Does anyone else have concerns about the linked bank account? I refuse to give
up credentials.

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tvanantwerp
I may be alone here, but I feel a little uncomfortable trading stocks solely
on a mobile device. Maybe I'm just having an old man moment, but I'd rather do
something like this on the desktop with easier simultaneous access to data and
research.

~~~
Artistry121
Fidelity and its ilk have some serious advantages - but Robinhood makes it so
easy and almost gamifies it. I use both - Robinhood for play, Fidelity for
long-term stuff - and I found myself using Robinhood more when I had an
iPhone.

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Someone1234
I read the "How we make our money" page, and if I am reading it right, they
only make money on the uninvested balances? It is free ($0) to invest and free
to de-vest ($0, 0%), is that right? Seems too good to be true...

Also how legal is this company? I've read about small StartUps based on the
stock market who then wind up getting in trouble with the FTC.

Honestly if this is free investment, then I might start doing some micro-
investment. I am been put off the stock market by the overheads of
investing/de-vesting (e.g. $20/trade). Although the hassle of filing taxes
might still put me off.

~~~
lewisl9029
Interest from margin accounts is another one. They don't have margin accounts
yet, but once they do, that could become a fairly significant revenue stream.

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Someone1234
True. But if you're interested in them for micro-investing, that seems
incompatible with borrowing to do it. Although I'm sure someone will want to
borrow to invest...

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LukeB_UK
It says this is incompatible with all my devices, I have a Nexus 4 and a Nexus
7. Is it because I'm in the UK?

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jbrooksuk
Likely... Robin Hood is not in the UK yet.

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iamben
Yup, says to me "not available in your country" (UK).

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kcbanner
I have an HTC One ( the first one ) and this app is listed as incompatible.
How do I find out why?

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profinger
It's probably because you're running an old version of android. I don't know
that you are but that is a likely reason.

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kcbanner
Perhaps because I am in Canada. I would have thought it would have said that
rather than "incompatible".

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khepin
It does say "not available in your country". Robinhood is only available in
the US for now.

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omouse
Robinhood is limited to users in America right?

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quiet-observer
best app ever

