August 27, 2021
1. Do you have one or more online trading or investment accounts?
Yes, I have one or more accounts that I access both online using a computer and using a mobile app.
2. If your response to Question 1 is Yes, do you think you would trade or invest if you could not do so online using a computer or using a mobile app?
Yes
3. On average, how often do you access your online account?
Daily/more than once a day
4. On average, how often are trades made in your online account, whether by you or someone else?
Once to a few times per month.
5. If you access your account online, did you have the account first, and only began to access it electronically later? Or did you open the account with the idea that you would access it electronically immediately?
I had a pre-existing account and downloaded an app or visited a website to access my account
6. My goals for trading or investing in my online account are (check all that apply):
Save and grow my money for medium- to long-term goals
7. What would you like us to know about your experience with the features of your online trading or investment platform? (Examples of features are: social networking tools games, streaks, or contests with prizes points, badges, and leaderboards notifications celebrations for trading visual cues, like changing colors ideas presented at order placement or other curated lists or features subscription and membership tiers or chatbots.)
Trading should not be gamified to illicit a sort of addiction or gratification from triggering certain cues. Implementing any sort of reward system shows that the goal is not to provide a service to the trader, but to ensure that the trader is engaged and using the app as much as possible. Trading comes with real world consequences, and thus should not be treated as a game. This applies for both retail and institutions.
8. If you were trading or investing prior to using an online account, how have your investing and trading behaviors changed since you started using your online account? (For example, the amount of money you have invested, your interest in learning about investing and saving for retirement, the amount of time you have spent trading, your knowledge of financial products, the number of trades you have made, the amount of money you have made in trading, your knowledge of the markets, the number of different types of financial products you have traded, or your use of margin.)
Trading online or through an app is very convenient, but that also means manipulation and misinformation is more easily spread, and more easily actionable.
9. How much experience do you have trading or investing in the following products (None, 12 months, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5+ years):
Stocks : 5+ Years
Bonds : None
Options : None
Mutual Funds : 5+ Years
ETFs : 2-5 Years
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : None
Commodities : None
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : None
Variable Insurance Products : None
Business Development Companies : None
Unit Investment Trusts : None
10. What is your understanding, if any, of the circumstances under which trading or investing in your account can be suspended or restricted?
Trading can be suspended or restricted due to failing margin requirements if trading on margin. Or can be suspended due to volatility.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
It feels like retail is just riding the wave of what market makers and hedge funds decide to do with stocks. They have intricate ways to dodge restrictions and control the price of securities as they desire. I am sure the world would love to see what would happen if dark pool trading was disabled for a period of time, or if any regulation regarding naked short selling or whatever they are doing to manipulate prices was restricted and actually enforced. When I mean enforced, I dont mean fractions of a percent of what they gained from the illegal activity. Market makers, hedge funds, etc. should all be held accountable and should be punishable just like the average retail trader. At this point, it just feels like the whole US stock market is a fraud, and the price you see on a ticker is anything but real.