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?
No
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 short-term goals (in the next year or two)
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.)
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.)
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 : Less Than 12 Months
Bonds : None
Options : None
Mutual Funds : None
ETFs : None
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?
Apparently, the CEO of a brokerage can call the NSCC to make a deal to lower margin requirements if they disallow or restrict the purchase of certain securities and lie, under oath, about it in a congressional hearing without repercussions from either the SEC, Congress, or the FBI. It was my understanding that I could trade without restriction and that perjury had repercussions. Apparently, I was wrong. I am and have never been a Robinhood user, but it was my understanding that other brokers were also restricting trades(buys) of certain securities at the same time. Even if these brokerages are considered \"private businesses\" I do believe it to be market manipulation to coordinate restriction of a security at the same time.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
Honestly, it seemed fine from October when I was trading OTC (pink sheets) stocks and EV stocks except for the blatant market manipulation of short sellers (Citron, etc) that hit my radar when they targeted EV stocks that I watched (and luckily wasn't invented in at the time). I realized that a lot of stocks are manipulated and extremely detached from fundamentals and it makes me fearful and hesitant to enter the market again in the capacity that I did at the time. In the last year, for example, NKLA has been outed as a fraud company and is currently trading higher than RIDE due to extreme short pressure. This manipulation is very concerning and makes me want to avoid trading outside of the one ticker that I'm currently invested in and if I did, it would only be to day trade or swing trade for earnings/ ETF rebalancing plays. I don't believe in long term investing when we have market makers that are also hedge funds that also own news/ media outlets controlling the market without restriction. Additionally, the use of dark pools to do anything but move large blocks of shares between companies is absolutely abhorrent and needs to be stopped immediately. The more I learn (and I have learned a lot since I started trading in October of last year) the less faith I have in the market being fair and the governing bodies enforcing laws and stopping manipulation and conflict of interests. I do hope that I see positive change in the future now that there are many eyes on the situation and general state of the market.