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 online, either using a computer or a mobile app but I also access the account(s) in other ways (e.g., by calling or visiting in person).
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 downloaded an app or visited a website first, and then opened up an account with the company
6. My goals for trading or investing in my online account are (check all that apply):
Save and grow my money for short-term goals (in the next year or two)
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.)
Robinhood has done an excellent job of luring new and inexperienced traders to their platform by making it very user friendly and aesthetically pleasing. They also prey on the inexperience of new investors by encouraging them to do things such as option trading (I now get random notifications about their new options features and how I should give them a try) or buying stocks on margin. For $5 a month you can become a gold member and further increase your margin availability. So they allow you to take large risks with money that you may not even have. Then, after allowing and even encouraging you to over-leverage your account, they turn off the ability to buy a stock that has run up from $17 to $483 (GME for those of you still not paying attention) in a month and taken away your possibility of gains.
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.)
I have a Roth IRA that I set up when I got my first job in high school. It is handled by a local broker and family friend who I I trust to invest it in ways that garner me single to low double digit annual returns. Trading applications have allowed me to take extra funds I would not be able to put into an IRA, but still would like to invest, and do so at my discretion without needing to contact a broker. It has given me the freedom to trade the stocks I want, oh except for when Robinhood and company decided to restrict tradings of certain stocks (GME) and completely destroy the illusion that the United States actually has a free market.
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 : 1-2 Years
Mutual Funds : 5+ Years
ETFs : None
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : 1-2 Years
Commodities : None
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : 5+ Years
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?
From my understanding, based off events this past year, it is ok to restrict a free market at any point and for any reason.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
As of right now, I have lost all faith in the US stock market. Some stocks have less than 50% of their daily volume traded on lit exchanges. PFOF has been used not to give the best price to the investor, but to route trading to the market maker who bails you out when youve over leveraged yourself. No institution is too big to fail. Im going to take my gains from the Mother Of All Short Squeezes that is GME, and bid adieu to the crime syndicate known and the United States Stock Market